# Race and Class in Scarlet Sister Mary

> Theme guide for Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin.

The narrative opens with a hierarchical view of Gullah people as superior to other Black groups, and the plantation's legacy of slavery shapes the characters' lives, revealing how race and class intersect in post-Civil War rural South.

## Where it surfaces

- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/chapters/i): The description of the Gullahs as 'far the best black people' and the contrast with 'common white trash' highlights internalized racial hierarchies and class distinctions within the post-slavery South.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/themes/race_and_class
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/scarlet_sister_mary_se/themes