ABSTRACT
The actual import of caste is gradually changing as the Negro class structure develops—except in the fundamental restriction that no Negro is allowed to ascend into the white caste. While the Negro class structure has developed contrary to the caste principle and actually implies a considerable modification of caste relations, fundamentally this class structure is a function of the caste order. The American order of color caste has even more directly stamped the Negro class system by including relative whiteness as one of the main factors determining status within the Negro community. Darker Negroes can rise to the top among Negroes in social status, and intermarriage with the lighter Negroes is possible and actually not infrequent. In all community studies the conventional division of a population into three classes—"lower class", "middle class", "upper class"—has been applied to the Negro community.
