RACIAL ECONOMIC SUBORDINATION AND WHITE GAIN IN THE U.S. SOUTH

Prominent perspectives in the study of race and ethnic relations make different predictions with regard to who gains from U.S. racial inequa lity. The competition perspective argues that Whites in general, and t he White working class in particular benefit materially from racial ec onomic subordination. The class exploitation perspective, in contrast, argues that elite Whites benefit and working-class Whites lose. We ar gue that competition and exploitation perspectives are theoretically l imited because they neglect the historically and structurally continge nt nature of distributional struggles and political-economic developme nt. Our analyses suggest that in the U.S. South the interaction betwee n elite structure and racial composition shapes racial economic subord ination and the degree to which working-class Whites or local elites g ain from racial inequality. While these findings are partially consist ent with class exploitation and competition perspectives, they suggest important revisions.