Economic historians, some trained in economic departments, some trained in history departments, have been making important strides in recent years in understanding the origins and consequences of discrimination and segregation based on race or ethnicity. Many of these advances have been made possible by the ability provided by computers to handle large data sets. In this panel we bring together four scholars who have been leaders in this field to discuss the implications of their work for our understanding of the past, and the likely direction of future research in the field.