A Culture of White Violence: The Enduring Impact of Slavery on Contemporary Interracial Killings

Abstract While the literature has documented various factors influencing the geographic distribution of interracial homicide, little is known about the role of historical antecedents. This article deepens our understanding of interracial homicide by investigating the relationship between slavery and contemporary interracial killings in the American South. The study draws on historical accounts of race-making and Black dehumanization to argue that slavery provided a fertile backdrop for the emergence of a culture of White interracial violence. Slavery’s legacy in this regard is expected to influence contemporary rates of White interracial homicide but not impact other racial homicide outcomes. Findings from county-level negative binomial regression models support these predictions, revealing a significant association between the historical legacy of slavery and higher rates of White-on-Black Southern killings. Conversely, slavery does not influence other race-specific homicide patterns, including Black-on-White, White-on-White, and Black-on-Black homicide.