American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
The Birth of a Nation: Media and Racial Hate
American Economic Review
(pp. 1424–60)
Abstract
This paper documents the impact of popular media on racial hate by examining the first American blockbuster: 1915's The Birth of a Nation, a fictional portrayal of the KKK's founding rife with racist stereotypes. Exploiting the film's five-year "road show," I find a sharp spike in lynchings and race riots coinciding with its arrival in a county. Instrumenting for road show destinations using the location of theaters prior to the movie's release, I show that the film significantly increased local Klan support in the 1920s. Road show counties continue to experience higher rates of hate crimes and hate groups a century later.Citation
Ang, Desmond. 2023. "The Birth of a Nation: Media and Racial Hate." American Economic Review 113 (6): 1424–60. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20201867Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- L82 Entertainment; Media
- N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- N41 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification