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This study investigates the role that the former Confederate States of America have on the entry of black-owned firms in the southern United States. Elected officials holding onto vestiges of southern slavery maintain a racist culture revealing a "taste for discrimination" and implement biased policy (Becker, 1971). Consequently, these biased elected officials who have some authority over the distribution of public contracts and policies continue to encourage anti-competitive and discriminatory practices in credit and capital markets. The results reveal that the former Confederate States of America through public policy create a market environment that has a significant and negative effect on black-owned firm entry. This suggests that among the various explanations for the dearth of black entrepreneurs, political entry barriers in the old south also appear to be important. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]