Economic Sources of Transcultural Conflict In Kansas City, Kansas

Abstract

The article analyzes cultural clashes between the dominant WASP majority and a black minority culture in Kansas City, Kansas. A socio-anthropological methodology constructs the type of economic determinism developed by Marvin Harris and Henry G. Burger. Major conclusions drawn are: (1) that a large "cargo cult" exists within the minority black culture; (2) that conflicts between the cultures can be reduced if the minority culture can obtain a greater voice in decisions affecting its enculturative system and its peoples' economic future; (3) that federal works projects utilizing low-income labor can provide a major outlet for "cargo cult" tension, thereby reducing impingement with negative results; and (4) that the next stage in the dialectical process might well be a "constipated" stage exhibiting degrees of violence if the above two conditions are not acted upon.