political and economic power remain vested in the hands of a relatively small local elite, most of whom are either white, light-skinned creole, or mestizo. the sizable middle group is composed of peoples of different ethnic backgrounds. this middle group does not constitute a unified social class, but rather a number of middle-class and working-class groups, loosely oriented around shared dispositions toward education, cultural respectability, and possibilities for upward social mobility. these beliefs and the social practices they engender, help distinguish the middle group from the grass roots majority of the belizean people.