Bk. I. God is not mocked. Pt. 1. Of the willing and the obedient. On paternalism ; Farmers, planters, and overseers ; The hegemonic function of the law ; In the name of humanity and the cause of reform ; Our Black family ; A duty and a burden ; Of concubines and horses ; The moment of truth
Pt. 2. And the children bought up. To the manor born ; De good massa ; Our white folks ; Some valiant soldier here
Bk. II. The rock and the church. Pt. 1. Of the God of the living. The Christian tradition ; Slave religion in hemispheric perspective ; Black conversation and white sensibility ; Let the dead bury the dead ; The white preachers ; Origins of the folk religion ; The gospel in the quarters ; The Black preachers ; Religious foundations of the Black nation
Pt. 2. And every man according as his work shall be. Time and work rhythms ; A "lazy" people ; The Black work ethic
Bk. III. The valley of the shadow. Pt. 1. Of the sons of Jacob. Life in the big house ; The men between ; Men of skill ; Free Negroes ; Miscegenation ; The language of class and nation ; A conclusion and a preface
Pt. 2. And the coat of many colors. The naming of cats ; The myth of the absent family ; Romances of the field ; Broomsticks and orange blossoms ; Husbands and fathers ; Wives and mothers ; The children ; The old folks ; Hearth and home ; Gardens ; Kitchens, high and low ; Clothes make the man and the woman ; Reading, writing, and prospects ; De big times
Bk. IV. Whom God hath hedged in. The slave revolts ; On resistance ; "Roast pig is a wonderful delicacy, especially when stolen" ; Standing up to the man ; Brothers, sisters, and no-'counts ; "All Negroes are fatalists" ; The runaways ; The bright and morning star
Appendix : The fate of paternalism in modern bourgeois society : the case of Japan.