Structural functionalism and racial conflict in "A town in Turmoil"

¶ … Town in Turmoil

The actions of people in a group are among the major theoretical underpinnings of sociology. The study talks about how those actions happened, why they happened, and what the ramifications are for society at large. Sociological theories try to explain the complexities of how people relate to one another and the major theoretical stances include: structural functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interaction. With these three theories the article labeled "A town in Turmoil" will be analyzed.

Structural Functionalist Perspective

Basically, this theory states that there are certain structures within society that each have distinct functions. If a certain structure ceases to perform its function, then the entire system breaks down (Deiner, 1999). Many times the human body is used as an example of this theory. Within the body are structures called organs and they all serve distinct functions that are needed for the body to survive. If any of these functions is not completed by that structure, then the body will eventually die. Looking at the article from this perspective it is simple to determine several structures that stopped functioning properly.

It seems apparent that there was already racial tension in the town prior to this incident happening. The black students going over to socialize with white students was not the original cause of the problem. Other white students felt that the black students had overstepped their bounds, and they sent them a message with the nooses. This inappropriate response to a supposed slight was responsible for the actions immediately following it, but there were deeper issues just beneath the surface that were truly responsible.

The primary structures within a community are family, religion, education, economy and government. Two of these structures, education and government, did not fulfill their circumscribed roles or the incident probably would have remained un-charged. However, because of the missteps of a few key players in the drama, a fire was lit under the smoldering ashes of the town's racism.

The first structure to fail in its duty was education. The primary purpose of the high school is education, but this structure also has a secondary function which supports the main one. The staff of the school needs to minimize conflict in order to keep the atmosphere within the school conducive to learning. The vice-principal did no wrong when he told Purvis that he could sit anywhere he liked on campus. The vice principal probably did not know about the unwritten rules of that society. The problems occurred when the principal began punishing students for their actions following the nooses being put in the tree. When the three white students who perpetrated the act were found they should have been suspended immediately for a decent amount of time. They should have somehow been shown the severity of their action. Instead they received a slap on the wrist which angered the black community, especially in light of what happened next. The school staff should have also tried to ease tensions and paid more attention to interactions between the two groups, but it did not.

The second structure that failed to act in a manner that befitted its function was the government. The district attorney should not have made the original threatening statements to the students, he should not have arrested the black students after whites received only minor punishments, and the government should not have followed up with convictions from a jury that was not made up of the student's peers. Because of the government's actions, the fire was fueled even more.

Symbolic Interaction Perspective

This is one of the more unique theories in sociology that does not detail the interactions of one group of people with another, but how the individual reacts to other individuals (McClelland, 2000). Society is not formed in a vacuum, but with a group of individuals. All of these individuals must interact with one another, and there are certain prescribed forms that each must follow to "get along" in society. It can be described as an actor reading a script. The actor needs to stay on the script and not ad lib the part that he or she is supposed to play (McClelland, 2000).

There are several symbols that are evident in the article. The first is that of the tree where only white students were to congregate. Every student on that campus knew where they were supposed to be, who they were in relation to the other students, and what role they were supposed to perform, but one student went off script. Purvis decided that he would change the role that he was asked to play, and he went and talked to others under the tree.

The symbols that the next group used was a message to Purvis and the other members of the black community that was well understood. The nooses represented a threat that had been carried out many times in the past. At this point, Purvis realized that he had stepped out of societal bounds if he did not realize it before. This symbol was a promise of death, or at least a beating, if Purvis and his black friends acted in a similar manner again.

Both communities knew their respective roles, and the actions of the white community against the black in court and at the school also demonstrated this. The fact that the six black students were brought up on charges and the white students were handled with kid gloves was a message to the black community to resume the attention to the script that they had been given.

Conclusion

It is easy to see through this exercise that this issue can easily be looked at from the perspective of any of these three theories. The fact that there are structures within society that perform certain roles is evident, and if they stop performing their functions chaos ensues. There were also two distinct classes of people who could be termed the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and conflict did result from the power difference between the two groups. The roles that each group was to play was evident from the fact that certain symbols were used to foment action on the part of the two groups. None of the theories explains it any better than the other two, but all three are needed to understand all of the dynamics taking place in the conflict.