A study examined the effects of race, class, and gender on writing. Data from the 6-year longitudinal study was carried out from 1989 to 1995 at City College of City University of New York. Subjects were African-American, Latino, Asian, and White students enrolled in three composition classes, one at each of the two levels of basic writing and one at the freshman composition level. Students were interviewed twice each semester throughout their college years. Papers written in all classes and copies of all institutional writing tests students were required to take were collected. Classroom observations were carried out during the last 5 years of the study. Two case study reports are presented of students' statements about writing development. In one of the two case studies, results indicated that the subject was, through her college education, moved from a position of a "wannabe White girl" to a proud African-American woman who recognizes the necessity of changing the stereotypes of African-American women in films and television. In the second of the two case studies, the subject began by denying his Latino background, desiring to be accepted as a true "American," but came to take as his cause the changing perceptions about homosexuals. These students' writings and interviews reveal that they, as members of minority groups, are capable of looking at the problems they must face in society in focused ways that can change the quality of that society. (Contains 4 references.) (CR)