A CASTE-CLASS ANALYSIS IS A USEFUL FRAMEWORK FROM WHICH TO STUDY THE CURRENT POSITION OF THE NEGRO. HIS SPATIAL ISOLATION HAS CREATED A RACE CONSCIOUSNESS AND A RACIAL SUBCULTURE WITH DISTINCTIVE FOLKWAYS (MUSIC, FOOD, AND CHURCHES). THE NEGRO LOWER CLASS IS STRATIFIED INTO AN "ORGANIZED" SECTOR WHOSE LIFE STYLE IS ORIENTED AROUND THE CHURCH AND MIDDLE CLASS MORALITY, AND A "DISORGANIZED" GROUP WHICH IS CRIMINAL AND AMORAL. THE NEGRO UPPER CLASS LIFE STYLE IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE WHITE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS. MEMBERS OF THIS CLASS ARE NOT VICTIMIZED BY THE GHETTO BUT BY THE SOCIAL EXCLUSION BY UPPER CLASS WHITES. BY CONTRAST, THE BROAD AND DIFFUSE NEGRO MIDDLE CLASS IS MORE CONCERNED WITH RACE CONSCIOUSNESS AND SOLIDARITY THAN WITH UPWARD MOBILITY. THE INCOME GAP AND THE JOB CEILING IN NEGRO EMPLOYMENT AFFECT THE CRUCIAL PROBLEM OF IDENTIFICATION AND CREATE IN THE NEGRO A "DEFENSIVE SOLIDARITY" WITH "THE RACE." FOR THE LOWER CLASS ESPECIALLY, ISOLATION FROM THE MAINSTREAM RESULTS IN A LACK OF EXPOSURE TO THE TECHNIQUES OF UPWARD MOBILITY AND AN INABILITY TO ACHIEVE THIS IDEAL. POWERLESSNESS IS THE KEY TO THE NEGRO REACTION TO THE CASTE-CLASS SYSTEM. AT THE PRESENT TIME THERE ARE FEW SIGNS THAT THE NEGRO MASSES WILL PROFIT FROM THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES THAT ARE THE PRODUCTS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. IT IS THUS IMPORTANT TO MAKE THE URBAN BLACK BELT GHETTOS MORE STABLE AND ATTRACTIVE COMMUNITIES. THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE FALL 1965 ISSUE OF DAEDALUS, AN ISSUE ON "THE NEGRO AMERICAN," AND IS AVAILABLE FROM THE PUBLISHER AS A BACK ISSUE. MATERIAL IN THE ISSUE WAS ALSO PUBLISHED AS A BOOK, HOUGHTON MIFFLIN, 1966, $9.50. (NH)