Reconstructing a High School Society After Court-Ordered Desegregation

This paper examines a student subsystem in an urban high school in the deep South that is undergoing adjustment to recent court-ordered desegregation. Although the school's administration and academic subsystems have remained relatively unchanged, the student subsystem reflects a new order wherein traditional segmentation is crosscut by new ethnic lines. A model for desegregation similar to that of Barth's is presented where ethnic groups attempt to manipulate rewards and resources yet protect boundaries.