Ethnic/race relations among trustees, administrators, faculty, and professional nonfaculty who were affiliated with colleges and universities located in the Southeastern United States during the late 1970s were examined. The macroscopic theory of the split labor market (Bonacich, 1979) was modified and tested within an institutional framework. Basically, the theory suggests that race questions are really class questions in that one racial group may be identified as cheaper paid labor while the other may be identified as high priced labor. Historical perspectives on black Americans and the evolution of American higher education from 1619 to 1980 also are considered at length. A survey of three traditional black (TBI) and four traditionally white (TWI) institutions assessed such issues as the following: the historical mission of the institution, whether the goals of desegregation correlate or conflict with its historical mission, and whether there is a specific affirmative action/equal employment opportunity program at the institution. The survey data and interviews point clearly to a split in the labor market between higher and cheaper paid labor. Higher paid labor, whether they were blacks at TBIs or whites at TWIs, experienced greater job security, greater degrees of job satisfaction, and less institutional alienation than cheaper paid labor. Those in the majority more often did not support and saw little need for affirmative action/equal employment opportunity programs that would produce greater numbers of minority professional employees at their institutions. A bibliography, sample questionnaire, and letters are appended. (SW)