Caste model (American South)
The Caste Model of the American South is a sociological framework that describes race relations in the Deep South, notably articulated by social scientist Allison Davis in 1941 and later supported by John Dollard in 1947. This model distinguishes between castes, which are permanent social divisions, and social classes, which can vary within a caste based on wealth and income. Central to this model is the idea that two distinct castes—whites and African Americans—existed post-Civil War, with the white caste holding most power and privilege while the black caste faced systemic poverty and oppression.
The caste system implies that societal positions are fixed, with members of the lower caste remaining in an inferior status regardless of individual achievements. This framework highlights that racial distinctions are critical; political and social equality were determined by race, rather than economic status. The model suggests that deeply ingrained societal beliefs hinder any meaningful change or social mobility, as efforts to improve conditions often fall short against entrenched racist customs.
Furthermore, the Caste Model has been critiqued for its limited perspective on African American culture and the dynamics between the castes, seeming to portray them as isolated from one another. Ultimately, it underscores a pervasive sense of hopelessness surrounding efforts to address racism and inequality in the American South, marking a significant divergence from caste systems observed in other cultural contexts, such as India.
Caste model (American South)
Significance: In contrast to assimilation theories, the caste model suggests that full acceptance of equal status and rights for a minority by the majority is never possible. Instead, in the United States, people will be assigned to separate and unequal castes according to their skin color.
Social scientist Allison Davis first proposed the caste model of race relations in Deep South (1941). A caste is different from a social class because caste membership is permanent. Generally, in a caste system, one caste is considered to be superior to the others. Castes may be divided into social classes by wealth and income, but the castes remain separate. Caste lines can never be crossed; rich members of one caste will not consider wealthy members of another caste to be their equals.
Caste and Class in the American South
Sociologist John Dollard supported the caste view after extensive research in a small southern community. The caste model he describes in Caste and Class in a Southern Town (1947) is based on the caste system found in India. In Dollard’s view, a caste system had replaced the slavery system in the South after the Civil War. Two castes lived in the South, separated by skin color. The white caste controlled most of the wealth and power, and the black caste was impoverished, exploited, and terrorized. Members of the latter caste were placed in an inferior position where they would remain no matter what their accomplishments.
Social classes existed within each caste—there were many poor white people and a few wealthy black people—but wealth or poverty mattered less than caste. Caste members could, through economic success or failure, move from class to class within their caste. However, members of the lower, African American caste were forever denied equality with members of the white upper caste. Political and social equality were based on race, not wealth. The racial distinctions between the castes were critical and permanent.
Southerners were born into a caste; they had no choice as to caste membership, and they adopted the views of other members of their caste. According to the caste system, white southerners were not considered racist because their feelings of superiority were simply part of the social structure of their region.
Dollard identified two key differences between the Indian and American caste systems: in India, the upper caste felt an obligation to defend or protect the rest of the community, while the higher caste in the United States did not; and members of the lower castes in India were exploited but did not feel abused because their status was assigned to them by tenets of Hinduism, while African Americans in the South were assigned second-class status for no reason other than traditional racist assumptions concerning their alleged inferiority. Their suffering and abuse had no origin in crime or sin. They were exploited and denied equality for no reason other than the color of their skin. No remedy or reasonable explanation for their problems seemed evident.
Implications for Public Policy
If the caste model of race relations were accepted by political leaders and policymakers, little would or could be done to change social and economic conditions in a society. Efforts to increase social mobility, such as political action, union organization, or government programs, would have little impact on long-held racist customs and traditions. Attitudes concerning equality versus inequality could not be changed. The caste model implies that inequality is an inherent part of the system.
The caste model provided vivid descriptions of life in southern communities but had little to say about living conditions in the industrial North. Another weakness was its inability to describe the African American culture that was developing in reaction to the dominant views of white supremacists. The caste model implied that no links existed between white and black people and that each caste lived alone in almost complete isolation. It also offered few suggestions for how to change the system. It described and evaluated the white caste’s domination of the black caste but did not examine the possibilities of change and progress in race relations. Under the southern caste system, there seemed to be no limit to the discrimination, and the immense amount of suffering seemed to have no significance or meaning. In this way, the American caste system bore little similarity to the Indian model.
Bibliography
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. 4th ed. Lanham: Rowman, 2014. Print.
Cox, Oliver. Caste, Class, and Race: A Study in Social Dynamics. Garden City: Doubleday, 1948. Print.
Davis, Allison, Burleigh B. Gardner, and Mary R. Gardner. Deep South: A Social Anthropological Study of Caste and Class. 1941. Introd. Jennifer Jensen Wallach. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 2009. Print.
Dollard, John. Caste and Class in a Southern Town. 3rd ed. Garden City: Doubleday, 1957. Print.
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