Deep South: A Social Anthropological Study of Caste and Class

A Yankee friend of mine once asked about the South, "But why do they torment one another so?" There are a lot of books, including novels by Faulkner and others, which try to answer just that question. One such is Deep South, written in the 1930's by 4 sociologists from Harvard (2 black, 2 white), who lived and studied Natchez, MS for 2 years. While the book contains some dry demographical statistics, it also uses anecdotes to paint an accurate and fascinating picture of the Old South and of how race and class determine social relations among poor whites, blacks, and the "planter elite". (Surely this is the kind of book people like John Grisham use for background for their own writings.) Natchez was the "cotton capital" in the 19th century and was then one of the most important cities in the South. Vital reading for anyone interested in civil rights, race relations, and issues of caste and class. Compare John Dollard's Caste and Class in a Southern Town and Hortense Powdermaker's After Freedom; also, if you're a Grisham fan and want to know what things were really like, read this book. [reviewer is a scholar of Southern culture and native of Natchez]