The Evolution of Anti-Blackness in the American South: How Slavery and Segregation Perpetuates the Victimization of Black People

• Author: Caroline M. Bailey
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00224278221120811
• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Date: 01 February 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

The Evolution of

Anti-Blackness in the

American South:

How Slavery and

Segregation

Perpetuates the

Victimization of

Black People

Caroline M. Bailey

Abstract

Objectives: Drawing on the “legacy effect”framework and the intergroup

contact hypothesis, this study examines whether 1) slavery is associated

with anti-Black hate crimes, 2) racial segregation is associated with anti-

Black hate crimes, and 3) racial segregation moderates the relationship

between slavery and anti-Black hate crimes. Methods: Using several data

sources, including the 1860 and 2000 U.S. Census and the 2000-2016

Uniform Crime Report, negative binomial regressions are employed to

explore these research questions. Results: In support of the “legacy effect”

Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Purdue

University at Indianapolis, 801 W. Michigan Street, BS 4054, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA

Corresponding Author:

Caroline M. Bailey, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana

University Purdue University at Indianapolis, 801 W. Michigan Street, BS 4054, Indianapolis, IN

46202, USA.

Email: bailecar@iu.edu

Thematic Issue: Centering Race in the Study of Crime and Criminal Justice

Journal of Research in Crime and

Delinquency

2023, Vol. 60(1) 14-42

© The Author(s) 2022

Article reuse guidelines:

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DOI: 10.1177/00224278221120811

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and intergroup contact hypothesis, the f‌indings from the analyses reveal

that both slavery and racial segregation are signif‌icantly associated with

increases in anti-Black hate crimes. Moreover, the relationship between

slavery and anti-Black hate crimes is amplif‌ied by racial segregation.

Conclusions: The results from this research suggest that historical practices

and institutions, such as slavery, can inf‌luence the contemporary maltreat-

ment of Black citizens. Specif‌ically, the racism and discrimination inherent in

slavery has manifested in the form of modern-day anti-Black hate crimes.

Additionally, the relationship between slavery and anti-Black hate crimes

is amplif‌ied when racial segregation prevents racial and ethnic groups

from building meaningful relationships that could demystify the culture of

Black inferiority created by the institution of slavery.

Keywords

slavery, racial segregation, hate crimes

Introduction

Existing scholarship has consistently demonstrated that Black and Brown

citizens disproportionately experience criminal justice outcomes, including

victimization, crime, and punishment. To gain a better understanding about

these disparities, scholars have explored and found that a host of individual-

and aggregate-level factors are associated with the differential experiences

of Black and Brown citizens, including race, gender, and socioeconomic

status. Yet, despite this line of research, questions remain about the root

causes of the racial disparities that characterize justice outcomes in

America. For example, in the wake of the 2020 murders of George Floyd,

Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others, there has been public

outcry to address the continued brutalization of Black bodies. I argue

that in order to gain a better understanding of the racialization of criminal

justice outcomes, it is necessary to acknowledge the failure of the crimino-

logical discipline to adequately account for the historical context within

which these disparities may emerge. Therefore, to fully center race within

the criminal justice system and account for the disparities that people of

color continue to experience, scholarship must consider the historical insti-

tutions that have given rise to the racial structure that exists today.

To understand these and similar issues fully, it is necessary to consider

the institution that remains the most striking example of the disparate treat-

ment of Black people in United States history. Slavery—an institution in

which Whites decimated Black life and culture while building generational

Bailey 15