中文摘要
本文通过考察美国第一部商业大片——1915年的《一个国家的诞生》，记录大众媒体对种族仇恨的影响。该片以虚构方式描绘了三K党的创立，充斥着种族主义刻板印象。利用该片历时五年的“巡回放映”，我发现私刑和种族骚乱的急剧增加与该片抵达某县的时间相吻合。以影片上映前影院的所在地作为巡回放映目的地的工具变量，我证明该片显著提高了20世纪20年代当地对三K党的支持。一个世纪后，曾进行巡回放映的县仍然经历着更高的仇恨犯罪发生率和更多的仇恨团体。(JEL J15, K42, L82, N31, N32, N41, Z13)
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. (JEL J15, K42, L82, N31, N32, N41, Z13)