Choosing Racial Identity in the United States, 1880-1940

This paper documents that many black males experienced a change in racial classification to white in the United States, 1880 – 1940, while changes in racial classification were negligible for other races. We provide a rich set of descriptive evidence on the lives of black men “passing” for white, such as their patterns of marriage, children, the passing of spouses and children, migration and income.

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