Caste, Economy, and Violence

Caste in the Deep South integrates into one system all aspects of white-Negro behavior: social, sexual, economic, political, educational, religious, legal, associational, and recreational. The only institution which is not completely organized on caste lines is the economic. Whenever Negroes as a group achieve economic mobility, they meet with severe punishment from the whites. Thus conflict and violence indicate that Negroes are beginning to compete more effectively with whites.