Abstract:

Draws on anthropological fieldwork to examine black-white differences in the reciprocal exchanges of services & support between elders & persons in their exchange networks. Interviews with 34 whites & 35 blacks ages 59-90 in a tobacco-farming community in North Carolina reveal multiple dimensions of exchanges, including a temporal dimension that allows for past, present, ongoing, & potential support; this dimension is important for understanding apparent imbalances in informants' exchanges. Also, black & white elders attributed different meanings to the exchange of similar items. This finding suggests that the most important differences between the 2 groups may be in the realm of meaning rather than in the nature of the exchanges. The extent to which such differences might be attributed to cultural & socioeconomic forces, both independently & interactively, is discussed.