Executions of Whites for Crimes Against Blacks: Exceptions to the Rule?

This article examines the relationship between status and law in general and race and the death penalty in particular. It focuses on cases in which whites have been executed for crimes against blacks. The goals of the article are to (1) determine the frequency of such cases, and (2) interpret the role of status characteristics (other than race) in explaining why the executions occurred. Records of 15,978 American executions were reviewed, and 30 relevant cases were identified. While the findings appear anomalous when race alone is used to explain death sentencing, the use of more general measures of status to explain such events supports sociological interpretations of the relation between law and status.