Reparation or Reproduction? Racialized State Contexts and University Engagement in Slavery Reparations

Abstract

Guided by racialized organizations theory and the afterlife of slavery, this study examines multilevel predictors of reparative engagement among 188 pre-Civil War universities across 33 U.S. states. Using critical race quantitative inquiry (QuantCrit)-informed multilevel discrete-time survival analysis, we estimate the hazard of first-time engagement across four reparative thresholds. At lower thresholds, endowment size and Black faculty representation positively predict engagement, while higher Black student enrollment and greater white faculty representation predict lower odds of engagement. State context is also critical: Southern universities are far more likely to engage across all thresholds, while those in states with higher Black-white unemployment inequality are significantly less likely to do so at higher thresholds. Findings illuminate how racialized structures shape institutional (in)action on reparative justice.