and while the youth are ready to arrive in the future, the older residents are not willing to budge: Like Steward, who wants to hang on to segregation and is described to be anti-Thurgood Marshall.
             Patricia Best, the resident genealogist, brings to the surface some of the more disturbing facts in Haven's short history. To the extent that Haven is free of whites, there is no racism. However, the people have found many ways to racially discriminate without the presence of whites. The nine original families, who eventually became the seven original families, are essentially Haven's ruling aristocracy. Also, we learn, there is racial discrimination among the blacks themselves. The most desirable features--darkest skin, etc.--are characteristics of what Patricia calls 8 Rocks. The lighter skinned blacks are looked down upon by the genetically superior 8 Rocks, and anything can and will be done to ensure quality in the genetic line, including incest. Patricia's father married a light skinned woman and was basically shunned by the town, as Patricia herself has never really been fully accepted. So she marries an 8 Rock for the benefit of her children, but then learns of incest in the family history. No matter what she does, she cannot help improve the family tree.
             The oven that sits in Haven's center, built by the people of Ruby, once sat at Ruby's center. In Ruby, it was the nervous system of the town, where the people would cook and share meals as a community. It was a symbol of solidarity and community among the people there, and was such a strong, important one, that those who left Ruby took it apart brick-by-brick and carried it with them. When we arrive in Haven, however, the oven
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