CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY

The study of the political economy of ethnicity among African Americans in St. Petersburg is a qualitative examination of the lived experiences of the African American community and the social structures that shape their world view. The aim of this research is not to determine the number of African Americans who share a common heritage, nor how frequently they invoke certain traditions and customs.

Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Bibliography Appendix 1 Timeline

Instead, the goal of this inquiry is to study the phenomenon of ethnicity among African Americans. Also, another objective of this investigation is to gain insight into the socialization of African American youths. This dissertation is a qualitative analysis of the political economy of ethnicity and an application of that knowledge in a program for adolescents.

Guided by the methodological assumptions of ethnohistory, oral life histories, and visual anthropology, this research is representative of the world views of diverse community members as expressed in both oral testaments and written documents. An explanation of the approaches and applications in this research are included in this chapter. These methods are illumined further through a discussion of the internship milieu in which I collected the data. Also, the procedures for acquiring informants and project participants are outlined.

Internship: Field Setting

The Enoch Davis Community Center, located in the Southside of St. Petersburg provided the space and supervision for this applied research project for youths. For many African Americans, the Enoch Davis Center is seen as a major social anchor in the community. As a focal gathering place for African Americans living in the "Southside" of St. Petersburg, this city-owned multipurpose center has been continually a source of leadership, training, tutoring, counseling, and recreational activities. Its facilities include a branch library, a congregate dining hall, meeting rooms and space for social service agencies. This site allows diverse elements of the African American community to come together and to articulate, promote, and preserve African American ethnicity.

Internship Structure

A nine-month internship was conducted in this setting. The goals of the internship were fourfold. It was anticipated that a documentation of the lived experiences of African Americans in St. Petersburg would: (1.) contribute to an understanding of their world views, (2.) provide insight into the social changes that affect the ethnicity of African American youths, (3.) increase the awareness of African American juveniles concerning their cultural heritage and (4.) help foster the preservation of the ethnic history of African Americans. It was assumed that the documentation of the history of African Americans in St. Petersburg and the conditions that shape their ethnic identity would expand our knowledge of the current status of African American youths and help nurture a sense of belonging among them.

This internship was designed to apply the collected oral history of African Americans in St. Petersburg into a formal program for African American youths aged 11 to 17 years old. A final aspect of the project included depositing all collected data in the Center's library.

The data collection, comprised of recording oral history interviews, examining archival research, videotaping activities and sites, and consulting with local historians who have studied St. Petersburg. Data were supplemented by researching Polk street directories, newspaper articles, county maps, city files and books concerning St. Petersburg. For the primary data, l collected oral histories from 32 African Americans who had lived in St. Petersburg for at least 20 years; on average informants had lived in St. Petersburg for 50 years. Five of these 32 informants were selected for more extensive life histories. Secondary information was collected through consultations with Drs. Ray Arsenault, Darryl Paulson, Maria Vesperi and Ms. Ellen Babb. Arsenault (1988) wrote St. Petersburg and the Florida Dream: 1888-1950. Paulson (1982) studied extensively the desegregation of schools in Pinellas County. Vesperi (1985) authored City of Green Benches, a study of elderly residents affected by downtown development. Babb, a local historian created a pictorial display of African Americans in St. Petersburg from 1888 to 1988. To gain a representative view of African Americans in St. Petersburg, diverse people were interviewed and various sources were explored.

Methodological Assumptions

Ethnohistory, life history, visual anthropology and statistical analysis of economic conditions were the methods chosen to help elucidate the political economy of ethnicity among African Americans in St. Petersburg. Ethnicity is a dynamic process that is created by social conditions and reflected in the historical consciousness of a group of people. This research required methods which permitted an examination of cultural change and development at the community and individual levels (Waters 1990). Both ethnohistory and life histories are used to chart continuities and discontinuities.

To illustrate historical patterns and environmental changes in the African American community and to contribute to the development of library's archives, significant events and artifacts were filmed. For example, social activities, aerial maps, photographs of social activities, homes, and institutions were recorded. The goal was not to produce a documentary. Instead, I sought to record cultural elements that would provide context to African American life (Denzin 1989:21 1).

Ethnohistory and oral life history are biographical methods that are used to place groups and individuals in historical contexts. Euler (1972:201) defines ethnohistory as an advancement of the understanding of various cultures and cultural processes through an analysis of human group behavior and time, using protocols of a historic nature. Life history is a retrospective account by an individual of an aspect of his or her life (Watson and Watson-Franke 1985:2). An ethnohistory is a documentation of nomothetic processes, while life history is an idiographic perspective of ritualized norms of behavior of a particular life within a culture (Angrosino 1989a:7). Understanding the syntheses of collective consciousness of a group and their uniqueness are made possible by the employment of these biographical tools.

The life stories of African Americans are used to chart cultural and social phenomena and the changes which have been created by various events (Sturtevant 1967: 6-7). Through the use of written and oral documents, life histories and ethnohistories are constructed to define the growth of persons in an environment and make theoretical sense of it (Dollard 1949: 3). The means persons use to meet the traditional expectations of their cultural group are examined through these instruments.

The narration of past conditions and changes and their effects on the lives of African Americans permit an analysis of their world view. Although persons make choices about life, their referents typically are their ethnic communities and they in turn are emblematic of those collectives (Royce 1981:66). This approach was used to gain knowledge of values which are instilled in African Americans and bond them together. This technique also allowed an examination of the impact that social changes such as the Civil Rights movement, desegregation, the black nationalist movement, and urban redevelopment have on African American ethnicity. Through an exploration of life conflicts, economic status, ideas and adaptations to crises (such as joblessness and displacements) an individual's perception of his or her ethnic identity will emerge (De Vos 1975). Biographical sketches uncovered how African Americans live, the meaning of their lives and the conditions which shape them.

A human being is not an individual but a singular universal declared Jean Paul Sarte (in Ferrarotti 1981:29). Being at once universal, through the singular universality of human history and singular through the universalizing singularity of his projects, the individual needs to be studied from both perspectives simultaneously (Ferrarotti 1981:29). Personal narratives permit researchers to study historical change, collective praxis, and the relationship between the individual and the collective (Bertaux 1981:6). Therefore, this methodology allowed an understanding of the core world of African Americans, as well as the larger political economy that casts them.

A slice of the larger culture is shown through the lives of individuals (Angrosino 1989a:1). "Every life is a moral, political, medical, technical and economic production" (Denzin 1989:29). To understand the patterns of dialectical materialism within a society, and the relationship between historical changes and life experiences, knowledge of the individual's location in history and his or her life stages are needed (Elder 1986:86 ). Hence, ethnohistory was used in this study to explore ethnic boundaries of African Americans and the geopolitical conditions which created their world views between 1920 and 1990.

Visual Documentation

"Films . . . have proved to be useful for the analysis of culture," says Margaret Mead (Worth 1981 :191). Anthropologists use films to illustrate patterns of cultures as well as to educate outsiders about different cultures. Franz Boas recorded Kwakiutl Indian crafts and games; Herskovits used films to show the presence of Africanisms in Haiti (Homiak 1990); and Bateson and Mead "innovated the use of film and photography as ethnographic media" (Jacknis 1988:162). Adair and Worth (Gross 1981:xi) also taught Navajo students film- making and studied how peoples of different cultures and groups structured their world through films. In field work, the visual media of film are memory aids to the scientist, comparable to a pencil, notebook, or word processor (Gross 1981 :190).

Anthropological film-making is a method by which one can use to study, describe and present the customs and ways of people all over the world (Worth 1981:78). Nevertheless, anthropologists are warned that films are not necessarily objective truth. Worth (1981:78) argues that one must always be aware of the way subjects are chosen and that the viewfinder only presents a slice of the data. The film data must also be placed in the context of the whole. The videos were incorporated in this study primarily to aid in the interpretation of data. It was anticipated that the transfer of archival materials to video would help to show the character of prior life in St. Petersburg. Secondly, the goal was to contribute to the development of archival resources concerning African American culture. For example, recording old photographs of homes in the Gas Plant and Methodist Town provided another means of assessing the underlying assumptions that influenced the "development" of these neighborhoods. This medium facilitated a political postmortem of destroyed African American communities in St Petersburg. Therefore, the videotapes were incorporated to visually illumine my understanding of the social ecology of St. Petersburg during the past 70 years.

To ensure that these films portray the world view of African Americans, all of the tapes remain unedited with exception of three twenty-minute productions. The edited tapes show a Palm Sunday tea of a men's club, a Christmas meeting of a blind association and the Sixty-Second anniversary of Happy Workers' Day Care. These tapes were produced to tell the story of the events without narration, but requests for copies of them required their refinement.

Sampling and Selection of Informants

This research involved two types of participants who served in different roles. The personal narratives of 28 elderly and 4 middle aged African American residents supplied information and interpretive data on earlier decades in the Southside. The other group was comprised of middle and high school students who were intended as recipients of the knowledge that had been acquired from the older members of the community.

Research concerning African Americans frequently represent them as monolithic, poor, and dysfunctional. Stereotypical judgements are made frequently about an entire population (Stack 1975; Harris 1979:61). African Americans may be cut from the same fabric of existence, but they shape their experiences into a multiplicity of life models. Therefore, a major goal of this sample was to represent the heterogeneous nature of African Americans.

To achieve this task, I interviewed people of various backgrounds. The sample included literate and illiterate, middle and lower class, leaders and followers, and religious and non religious people. Denzin (1970:239) argues that no two lives are alike; lawful determinism need not be based upon frequency of occurrence in a multitudes of cases but may apply to a single life. He argues that each personality interprets universal factors in his or her life differently. For example, the thread of racism may affect the entire African American population. However, this phenomenon may create one as conservative as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and another person as liberal as the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Yet their experiences as African Americans are similarly derived. Margaret Mead (quoted in Langness and Frank 1981:53) asserts, that any member of a group, provided that his /her position within in that group and individual characteristics are properly specified, is a perfect sample of the group- wide pattern on which he/she is acting as an informant. Individual life stories show how they adhere or deviate from the normative patterns of a group.

A snowball method was used to select the adult informants. This approach, in which one interviewee recommends the next interviewee, has been considered an appropriate method for conducting oral history projects (Martin 1987:7). This sampling method was used to locate the 32 adult informants whom I interviewed for this project. Contacts with informants were initiated by first interviewing friends, community activists and colleagues who worked with older African Americans. These individuals were asked to suggest elder African Americans who had lived in the community for at least 20 years, who personified the ethnic beliefs and values of their community and could tell the history of African Americans in St. Petersburg.

There are potential limitations associated with the snowball method. Such a technique may limit the sample to one class of people (Martin 1987:7-8). An explicit request for diverse participants was adopted to help overcome this barrier; contacts of various classes, perspectives and backgrounds were solicited. The ability to insure this diversity was enhanced by my own knowledge of the African American community in St. Petersburg.

Despite the above discussed drawbacks, snowball methods may be used to introduce the researcher and to gain acceptance by the community. A referral generated by trusted friends and associates fosters greater trust and cooperation on the part of the interviewees. Such a method enables a researcher to be positively regarded in a community that is suspicious of academic studies. The fact that I am an African American was also helpful in alleviating skepticism.

There are few labels which can be used to characterize the 32 informants whose perspectives shaped the core of this dissertation. Their lives reflect diverse experiences. Seventeen (53%) informants are men, 15 (47%) are women. Many of the informants migrated from other areas. Eight (25%) relocated from Georgia and 7 (21%) moved from other places in Florida. Three of the seven (9.3%) Floridians were from Alachua county. Three (9.3%) other persons were born in Chicago, South Carolina, and Alabama. Seventeen of the informants were raised in rural communities. The majority of the informants are religious. Fifteen (47%) are Baptists and three (9.3%) are Methodists. Additionally, one Catholic, one Lutheran, two Seven Day Adventists, two Pentecostalists and two Bahais comprised the sample. Four of the informants are not affiliated with a religious organization.

Some informants were the first African Americans to break the color barriers in various roles and occupations. Among these informants were the "first" bus driver, the "first" retail clerk in an exclusive clothing store, the "first" life guard, the "first" nurse supervisor, and the"first" teacher supervisor. The informants have a wide range of educational experiences. While six attended only grade school, five achieved masters degrees, and two were awarded doctorates. Eleven graduated from high school and another four advanced to trade school. Although 12 (37.5%) of the 32 informants attended college. The majority of the other interviewees were manual laborers. Those informants without college degrees were occupationally diverse. They were bus drivers, sanitation workers, barbers, beauticians, retail clerks, migrant laborers, hot dog and vegetable vendors and trained chefs. Two informants with no formal schooling, owned businesses and consider themselves successful self-made individuals.

Almost universally, the informants had been married; only two (6.2%) were single. Three (9.3%) had legally dissolved their marriages, and 11 (34.3%) had lost their partners through death. The average age in the sample was 61 years. However, five people were between the ages of 37 and 48 years.

Interview Process

An interview is a method of data collection that embodies a synergistic process. This interactive phenomenon is formed not only by the individuals present, but also is shaped by the intended audiences (Angrosino 1989b). Therefore, questions and answers reflect the roles and statuses of the interviewer and the respondents within their larger worlds (Denzin 1891). Questions and answers concerning the changing environment in St. Petersburg and the lives of African Americans within this city are only meaningful when placed in this context. For example, some questions were answered more readily because the interviewer shared a common culture with the respondents. Still other questions were not answered because of the vulnerable positions of African Americans in St. Petersburg. Some informants perceived that frank discussions about racist and economic exploitative conditions could jeopardize their jobs and other opportunities. Examples of African Americans who were either injured or murdered for stepping over the prescribed racial boundaries remain real to some informants. They knew suspects who were never tried but still lived in the area. Therefore, unanswered questions were motivated by past experiences and persistent fears.

In an effort to understand the dynamics of the political economy of ethnicity among African Americans in St. Petersburg, I conducted in-depth interviews. Although, the format was not rigidly structured, many questions were predetermined. However, during the interviewing period some of these questions were altered by the process. My observations in interviews and other contexts also led to revisions as the interviews proceeded. Issues that were raised during the interviews frequently led to other questions. Occasionally, respondents suggested questions that they felt were important. The flexibility of the biographical method allowed the interviews to be a dynamic and evolving process.

The interviews explored key events and conditions that had influenced African Americans in St. Petersburg, such as the Sanitation Strike of 1968 and the construction of the interstate highway in early 1980s. Respondents were questioned concerning several specific events that occurred in St. Petersburg. Interviewees also were questioned about migration, tourism, desegregation of schools, facilities, the destruction of neighborhoods, and the removal of residents. These respondents were asked to discuss these events and how they affected the social, economic and political status of the community. For example, respondents were asked how their own social relationships with their neighbors were affected by construction of the interstate. Essentially, the interview process examined what it has meant historically to be African American in St. Petersburg.

When studying key events, conditions that created situations should be examined. Therefore, the interview process sought to understand the motivations and assumptions that led to various incidents, and searched for explanations for the circumstances that existed during segregation, desegregation and post- desegregation. Additionally, informants were asked to assess which values contributed to the current problems in the African American community. These types of questions were posed to determine how social structures support and invent the ideologies that foster the political economy of the community. W. Lloyd Warner (1953 quoted in Perrin 1988) argues that social relations consist of evaluated beliefs and values and are expressed in human conduct.

A salient factor in understanding ethnicity is an examination of the collective activity of an ethnic group. The interviewing process explored activities driven by a common bond and the world view shared among African Americans. The development of institutions, organizations, and political movements were reviewed with informants. These journeys into past memories focused on the generalized assumption of an ancestral union. With the exception of three respondents, interviews were conducted in their homes. The average respondent was interviewed for approximately 5 hours. Each person was interviewed a minimum of three hours. Conflicting schedules sometimes limited the time of the interviews.

With the permission of the respondents, the majority of the interviews were taped on audio cassettes. A few respondents did not permit their interviews to be taped. Two informants who were rather outspoken and knowledgeable raised concerns about data being taped. They considered that such documentation could be used later against the African American community. I understood their rationales. These men were raised during a period when African American males were mistreated for "saying the wrong thing." Despite the reality of their fears, the majority of respondents perceived the tapes as useful tools for teaching their grandchildren and other children about the past.

Participant Observations

Oral life history methods are used to reconstruct a description of past events. However, participant observations provide researchers opportunities to understand past events in the context of current day to day experiences. It is a field strategy that simultaneously combines document analysis, respondent and informant interviews, direct participation, observation and introspection (Denzin 1970:186). This methodology allowed me to understand and interpret more effectively the world view of African Americans in St. Petersburg.

During the internship, I observed several events and activities that occurred at the Enoch Davis Center and in the wider community. Such observations included events that commemorated the past, performances that celebrated community ties, meetings that sustained and bonded community members and sessions that sought to solve community problems and reconnect African Americans. For example, I attended a candlelight vigil that honored the life of Dr. Martin Luther King and Odd Brothers Palm Sunday memorial service that remembered deceased club members and their widows. During this period, I also observed the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership (SCLC) publicly accuse the St. Petersburg police of brutalizing an African American family. Gibbs High school alumni club members also met to encourage their fellow cohorts to continue to support the school in order to preserve its African American heritage.

Not all my observations involved attending structured activities. Just being at the Davis Center provided further insights into the daily lives of African Americans. I saw and spoke with children who came to the library after school. I observed the elder women and men who prayed, sang, and lunched together everyday. I listened to the conversations of the social workers who worked in the community center and explored ways to change conditions. These observations helped me to place the ethnicity of African Americans in the context of their current cultural milieu.

Being an African American and a long term resident in the Southside community, the role of participant observer was a twin endeavor. From one perspective, l was an anthropologist looking at my culture, from the other dimension, I was an African American looking at an anthropologist looking at me. This data collection and the ultimate analysis of the process are reflected in my bilateral roles. This issue will be further discussed in the chapter on being "a native anthropologist."

Archival Research

An understanding of the historical culture of African Americans not only requires oral accounts but also the incorporation of written records (Trigger 1982; Euler 1972). Thus, a major component of the data collection for this dissertation included secondary and primary records.

I used city directories, newspaper articles, official memoranda concerning Laurel Park (a housing complex from which residents were removed while internship was in process), census data, city council reports dating from 1974 to 1990, and redevelopment plans for the Jamestown and Gas Plant areas. A few books, scholarly articles, and television news archives from WTSP (Channel 10) revealed other dimensions of the history of African Americans in St. Petersburg. Among the books reviewed were those that were written by Arsenault (1988) and Vesperi (1985), and Reverend Enoch Davis' (name sake of the center) On The Bethel Trail, (1979). Davis chronicled the major events that influenced the lives of African Americans in St. Petersburg, Florida and the United States. He discussed such issues as the 1914 Iynching of an African American in St. Petersburg, the return of African Americans to the Democratic party, the church, and general social problems. These sources supplemented the oral data.

Methods of Engaging Youths

"History is the scaffold upon which personal and group identities are constructed" (Bennett 1972:194). As a source of power and identity, this knowledge is used to assign roles, direct future action and provide models to which growth can aspire (Bennett 1972). Guided by these assumptions, the aim of this project was to incorporate African American students in gathering and learning directly the cultural heritage of their community. I anticipated that youths informed of their history would be better able to achieve personal efficacy and a sense of their own identity.

The students were recruited from local high schools, Black Culture clubs, social agencies, and recreational centers to participate in educational discussions and to assist in gathering data concerning the local history of African Americans in St. Petersburg. Recruitment was directed towards youths between ages of 11 and 17 years. The intent was to include somewhat older children who required less supervision. Group attendance was open and voluntary, but students had to register with their parents' permission. Pupils were invited to attend a four week session for 2 hours on Thursday afternoons and 3 hours on Saturday mornings. The numbers of adolescents who participated each session were inconsistent. Some days as many as 17 attended, while other times only 4 students came to the sessions.

In the sessions students were presented opportunities to assess critically the history and world view of African Americans in St. Petersburg from the 1920s to 1990. This program was named "Project La Churasano: Remembering the Past to Control the Future." (La Churasano means cultural heritage in the Mandinka language.) Dobyos (1978:109-115) argues, that the heavy hand of the past rests upon present populations. He also asserts that people can ill afford to ignore an ethnohistorical reality and base decisions upon abbreviated assessments.

Sessions consisted of discussions with community persons, field trips, videotaping, informal interviews with community persons and some archival research. Such topics as migration, the Sanitation Strike, changing hair styles, ethnic entrepreneurs, and neighborhood displacement were discussed. To place the past in the context of the present, students were taken on field trips to community landmarks and they were given opportunities to interview older community members about their lives and the implications for informing today's youngsters. Archival data such as street directories, and the "Eyes on the Prize" series were also used to assist youngsters in understanding the cultural context of their present status. Efforts were made to teach students that history is a living phenomenon, relevant to their own lives.

Originally, the project was conceptualized to have students assist throughout the data collection. However, time and resource constraints altered the project. Instead, two four-week sessions on change and continuity affecting the lives of African Americans in St. Petersburg were offered to African American students. Opportunities were created within this format for students to assist in some aspects of the data collection. For example, on one field trip they conducted informal interviews with shop owners in the Gas Plant area about the impact that destruction of Laurel Park and the construction of the Suncoast Dome had on their businesses. Primarily, students were presented the history of their community.

Several underlying assumptions guided this project. It was assumed that the enculturation of African American children concerning their cultural heritage would help them to understand their roles as African Americans. Also, it was reasoned that an understanding of their ethnicity would reinforce their sense of belonging, stimulate them to preserve their cultural heritage and choose positive life styles. Finally, it was believed that this program would fill a void created by an educational system that does not support the cultural identity of African American children. Overall, this project was a process of social reconstruction guided by the critical analyses of the historical forces that have influenced the lives of African Americans.

The collection of oral and written data concerning African Americans in St. Petersburg, and the integration of youths in the process, were directed by an operational definition of ethnicity and political economy. Use of these concepts required an examination of the historical evidence of collective behaviors of African Americans that have been molded by political and economic circumstances. Since ethnicity is internally and externally ascribed, these data represent an exploration of the self perceptions of African Americans and their externally determined status in St. Petersburg. This dissertation is built upon an understanding of the historical nature of culture and cultural processes of African Americans in St. Petersburg.

Analysis of Data

There are few models of life histories which are used to explain the political economy of ethnicity. In fact, the analytical aspect of life histories is the least developed component of the life history research (Langness and Franke 1981:63). Although this methodology is used to illustrate cultural viewpoints, and portray cultures and cultural change, interpretations are more self-reflective, phenomenological and psychological

(Langness and Franke 1981 :63). Generally, life histories represent a microanalysis of individual lives.

Despite the existing analytical trend in life history research, it is quite appropriate to expand its use to exemplify the fusion of politics, economics, and societal aspects of life. C. Wright Mills (1977:12 quoted in Langness and Franke 1981:27), argues that 'neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without an understanding of both.... By the fact of his (sic) living, an individual contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of society and its historical push and shove.' This dialectical tension between the individual and the society defines the core concept of political economy and ethnicity -- the relations of production.

Sherman (1987:43), a Marxist inspired political economist hypothesizes that the relations of production are the interconnections between groups of human beings in the process of creating goods and services. He perceives society as an arena of fundamental conflicts that generate historical developments. Marxists contend that in each society there is a major exploiting class (which also rules politically) and a major exploited class (which is also politically subordinated) (Sherman 1987:41). These major assumptions of political economy seem to characterize the relationship between African Americans and the mainstream American society. From the initial enslavement of African Americans until now, their existence in the United States has represented a cultural dissension. The juxtaposition of the African American struggle for emancipation, survival and economic betterment in St. Petersburg against the status quo social and economic structures motivated a dialectical analysis of this research.

This model is influenced primarily by Sherman's (1987) frameworks of social analysis. He posits that one may understand a phenomenon by examining the interconnection of ideas and institutions of a social structure and the relations and forces of production (Sherman 1987:44). Sherman (1987:13-14) suggests that these factors may be further delineated by exploring forces of production, change, unity and conflict, and cultural hegemony.

In an effort to show how historical materialism influenced African American ethnicity, subsequent intergenerational relations, and the present youth problems, data analysis included a two step process. Observations and taped interviews were transcribed and thematically coded. Economic information, demographic statistics and news reports also were categorized. The contents of data were organized by topics as outlined below.

Forces of Production

Marx (1973) argues that the starting point in an analysis of political economy should be the population. He proposes that their general relation with labor demand and the world markets should be clarified (Marx 1973:132). I developed a profile of the informants and their occupational careers. By analyzing census data and economic development reports, I charted the average income, education and the types of jobs African Americans in St. Petersburg have held. National economic trends and events documented by newspaper articles and historical materials were compared to the local economic conditions in St. Petersburg. Expansions and retractions of businesses and shifts also were compared and their impact were examined.

Change

Change is a persistent force in political economies. Marx hypothesizes that production and other forces alter societies. He proposes that innovations in religious, artistic, political and legal views may be caused by economic developments (Arthur 1973: 38). For example, increases in incomes and job status may modify one's involvement in church activities. Family relations may also be affected by crises and economic turning points. Institutional and structural changes within the African American community and the motives for their transformation were studied. The causes and the consequences of the evolution of beliefs and values are highlighted also in the data.

Unity and Conflict

There are always opposing forces in a capitalist political economy argues Sherman (1987:19). Tensions between classes, owners and workers, rulers and followers characterize Western economies. Disharmonies continually exist as groups seek their rights and self-determination. Inequalities, discrimination, racism and sexism are byproducts of this system (Sherman 1987:114-121). Therefore, my interpretations concern the stresses between African Americans and city officials. I juxtaposed ideas, values, motives of the competing groups to interpret their struggles. Collective actions and conflictual relations with city officials over civil rights, police brutality, and land are illustrated.

Cultural Hegemony

States and ruling classes maintain power through ideologies and militaristic mechanisms over the whole society (Gramsci 1973:185). Arthur (1973) explains Marx's writings and outline three ways that hegemony could be proven in a society. He proposes that (1.) one must examine the ideas of the rulers and determine the real reasons for their existence; (2.) one must prove how current ideas are connected to past ideologies; and (3.) how these concepts are materialized and manifested in self- consciousness. Wolf (1982:188) argues that ideologies codify existence, permeate an entire cultural universe and become a design for living. Gramsci (1973:185) believes that schools and intellectuals are major sources of the ideas that foster the domination of the ruling class.

In my analysis of this concept, I did three things. First, I categorized the ideas that concerned the domination of African Americans in St. Petersburg. Second, I determined the source of these concepts. For example, I traced the history of Gas Plant redevelopment to assess the origin of this plan. Third, I examined the youths' contacts with the school system, religious organizations, and media to explain the extent that their self-consciousness had been influenced by these relationships. I explored the tensions embodied in the educational hegemony of African American children by public schools and their ethnic enculturation.

A search for recurrent themes also characterized this analysis. Persistent views indicated a shared value system. For instance, the repeated discussion about the lack of prayer in the schools as a contributor to youth violence showed a cultural expectation.

The loss of black schools and black teachers also revealed a consistent concern. These data were traced to analyze their subsequent impact.

Interpreting the political economy of African American life in St. Petersburg has been like drawing a large sociogram. it required looking at the informants' lives and connecting their realities not only to the present conditions but also to past circumstances. By a common thread of existence in St. Petersburg, the lives of the interviewees were also connected to each others'. Additionally, ideological conflicts over work, progress, schooling, and economic transformation were linked and compared to changing circumstances, adaptations of previous generations and local and national events. Finally, a synthesis of these relationships were made to determine how they molded the African American perspective on the world.