When the identities of youth of color have been studied (especially African Americans), several problematic practices have been employed. Racially, African American youth have been compared to a "standard" of White American youth. From the perspective of social class, poor African American youth have been compared to the…

Traces the history of Euro-American resistance to the realities of an ethnically plural society. Reforms to teacher education and public education are needed to respond to requirements of a nation of increasing pluralism. Cultural scholarship and the active political participation of people of color are essential. (SLD)

Theories explaining differences in IQ performances between races in terms of (a) genetics and (b) the role of the environment are both criticized. It is argued that the Cultural Distance Approach, which stresses the role of a subculture's distance from the major culture on which IQ questions are based, has the greatest explanatory power. (RDN)

The basic tenet of this paper is that the difference between black and white children on IQ measures is not due to genetics but describes the cultural distance between the two groups. The cultural distance approach is described as an amalgam of the environmental and social psychology points of view. It holds that any subculture operating according…

Recent studies indicate that the production of socioeconomic differences in health status by socially disadvantaged is equivalent in the United States and Britain, even though the traditional emphasis in Britain has been on social class and in the United States has been on educational status and race. (SLD)

Maintains that educators need to dignify the language and cognitive experiences of African-American children. Asserts that African-American culture emphasizes charismatic and stylistic uses of language. Teachers must understand African-American cultural styles if they are to create cultural continuity for African-American children who attend…