Roots of DisorderEvery white southerner understoodwhat keeping African Americans "down" meant and what it did not mean. It did not mean going to court; it did not mean relying on the law. It meant vigilante violence and lynching. Looking at Vicksburg, Mississippi,Roots of Disorder traces the origins of these terrible attitudes to the day to day operations of local courts. In Vicksburg, white exploitation of black labor through slavery evolved into efforts to use the