This paper investigates the isolation of the local black community within the social/cultural perspective. A profile of the community is given in terms of data collected from personal and family interviews. Personal interviews assessed how the Appalachian black viewed his group. Among the 13 variables studied are: trustworthiness, religion, work ethic, intragroup cooperation, discrimination, drinking problems, and educational values. The family interviews inquire as to the religion, education, marital status, occupation, family size, length of residence, type of dwelling, number of vehicles owned, nature of family relations, and income level of families. The blacks are considered to share, to a great extent, the Appalachian lifestyle of advocated abstinence, strong religious, community, and family ties, as well as the contradiction of heavy alcohol consumption among adult males. While sharing in similarities, whites, Cherokees, and blacks of Appalachia are seen to have little interaction with each other. All three groups are found to project negative images to the valley whites and to outsiders. The paper concludes that the black community is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a larger cultural situation that must change in order for the black community to change. (Author/AM)