The Effects of Windfalls on Descendants of the Enslaved

The racial wealth gap between Black and White Americans is one of the largest and most persistent racial disparities in the United States. Some believe the majority of this gap can be attributed to slavery. Due to Federal Indian Policy, thousands of formerly enslaved people, or freedmen, became landowners in present-day Oklahoma during the early 1900s. Over the following three decades, Oklahoma experienced an unexpected and unprecedented oil boom. Doctoral student in economics Micah Villarreal will examine the impact of oil discovery on socioeconomic outcomes for Creek Freedman landowners in Oklahoma and their descendants. She will create a new dataset for her study.