Colorism in the Rental Housing Market: Field Experimental Evidence of Discrimination by Skin Color

Although sociological research on colorism has affirmed an association between lighter skin and socioeconomic advantage, causal estimates of discrimination are challenging to generate outside of experimental contexts. Using data from an audit study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, we present field experimental evidence of colorism in the rental housing market for Black and Hispanic Americans, demonstrating variation in discrimination by the race of the agent, race of the renter, and the outcome in question. Our findings suggest that a macrosocial preference for lighter skin has the potential to translate into microsocial interactions in more complicated ways than a consistent light-skin privilege, emphasizing the need to better understand how color-based discrimination operates in the lived contexts where interventions might be possible. Results also suggest that discrimination by skin color may reflect varied processes by race and ethnicity, necessitating an understanding of colorism as inherently intersectional.