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Race and Schooling in the South, 1880-1950

An Economic History

The interrelation among race, schooling, and labor market opportunities of American blacks can help us make sense of the relatively poor economic status of blacks in contemporary society. The role of these factors in slavery and the economic consequences for blacks has received much attention, but the post-slave experience of blacks in the American economy has been less studied. To deepen our understanding of that experience, Robert A. Margo mines a wealth of newly available census data and school district records. By analyzing evidence concerning occupational discrimination, educational expenditures, taxation, and teachers’ salaries, he clarifies the costs for blacks of post-slave segregation.

"A concise, lucid account of the bases of racial inequality in the South between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights era. . . . Deserves the careful attention of anyone concerned with historical and contemporary race stratification."—Kathryn M. Neckerman, Contemporary Sociology

"Margo has produced an excellent study, which can serve as a model for aspiring cliometricians. To describe it as ’required reading’ would fail to indicate just how important, indeed indispensable, the book will be to scholars interested in racial economic differences, past or present."—Robert Higgs, Journal of Economic Literature

"Margo shows that history is important in understanding present domestic problems; his study has significant implications for understanding post-1950s black economic development."—Joe M. Richardson, Journal of American History

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Two Explanations of Economic Progress
2. Race and Schooling in the South: A Review of the Evidence
3. The Political Economy of Segregated Schools: Explaining the U-Shaped Pattern
4. "Teacher Salaries in Black and White": Pay Discrimination in the Southern Classroom
5. The Impact of Separate-but-Equal
6. The Competitive Dynamics of Racial Exclusion: Employment Segregation in the South, 1900 to 1950
7. "To the Promised Land": Education and the Black Exodus
8. Conclusion: Race, Social Change, and the Labor Market
Notes
References
Index

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