TY - JOUR
T1 - Skin tone stratification among black Americans, 2001-2003
AU - Monk, Ellis P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Comments by the anonymous reviewers were very insightful and certainly improved this paper. The author wishes to thank Loïc Wacquant, Mike Hout, Evelyn Nakano Glenn, and Cybelle Fox for their support and feedback. The author also wishes to thank Robert J. Taylor for his assistance with the NSAL. This research was supported by a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. Address correspondence to Ellis Monk Jr., Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637; Email: [email protected].
PY - 2014/6/1
Y1 - 2014/6/1
N2 - In the past few decades, a dedicated collection of scholars have examined the matter of skin tone stratification within the black American population and found that complexion has significant net effects on a variety of stratification outcomes. These analyses relied heavily on data collected between 1950 and 1980. In particular, many scholars have utilized the National Survey of Black Americans (1979-1980). This leaves the question of whether or not the effect of skin tone on stratification outcomes remains decades later. Newly available data from the National Survey of American Life (2001-2003) are used to examine this question. I find that skin tone is significantly associated with black Americans' educational attainment, household income, occupational status, and even the skin tone and educational attainment of their spouses. Consequently, this study demonstrates that skin tone stratification among black Americans persists into the 21st century. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the study of ethnoracial inequality in the United States and beyond.
AB - In the past few decades, a dedicated collection of scholars have examined the matter of skin tone stratification within the black American population and found that complexion has significant net effects on a variety of stratification outcomes. These analyses relied heavily on data collected between 1950 and 1980. In particular, many scholars have utilized the National Survey of Black Americans (1979-1980). This leaves the question of whether or not the effect of skin tone on stratification outcomes remains decades later. Newly available data from the National Survey of American Life (2001-2003) are used to examine this question. I find that skin tone is significantly associated with black Americans' educational attainment, household income, occupational status, and even the skin tone and educational attainment of their spouses. Consequently, this study demonstrates that skin tone stratification among black Americans persists into the 21st century. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the study of ethnoracial inequality in the United States and beyond.
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U2 - 10.1093/sf/sou007
DO - 10.1093/sf/sou007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84900829119
SN - 0037-7732
VL - 92
SP - 1313
EP - 1337
JO - Social Forces
JF - Social Forces
IS - 4
ER -