A Review Essay on Howard Bodenhorn’s The Color Factor: The Economics of African-American Well-Being in the Nineteenth-Century South†

March 8, 2018

In The Color Factor: The Economics of African-American Well-Being in the
Nineteenth-Century South, Howard Bodenhorn investigates the origins, health, and
socioeconomic performance of mixed-race people in the antebellum Southern United
States. The central conclusion of the book is that mixed-race people fared better
than darker-skinned blacks on nearly every dimension; however, they were still disadvantaged
relative to whites. This review essay discusses the book’s valuable data
contributions and relates Bodenhorn’s conclusions to the broader literature on colorism.
I close with implications for future research on the economics of skin color.

For Full Review  AEA