PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Heather Antecol AU - Kelly Bedard TI - The Racial Wage Gap AID - 10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.2.564 DP - 2004 Mar 31 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 564--583 VI - XXXIX IP - 2 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/2/564.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/2/564.full SO - J Hum Resour2004 Mar 31; XXXIX AB - Labor market attachment differs significantly across young black, Mexican, and white men. Although it has long been agreed that potential experience is a poor proxy for actual experience for women, many view it as an acceptable approximation for men. Using the NLSY, this paper documents the substantial difference between potential and actual experience for both black and Mexican men. We show that the fraction of the black/ white and Mexican/white wage gaps that are explained by differences in potential experience are quite different from the fraction of the racial wage gaps that are explained by actual (real) experience differences.