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This book describes what has happened to one group of young black children in an urban school inside a black community persistently and doggedly contained by surrounding whites. Even beyond the realities of racism, their education was influenced by the pervasive impact of schools in perpetuating the existing inequalities of American society. This then is an account of how one school began to shape the lives and options of one group of black children, and how the children responded at different times with compliance, defiance, or simple withdrawal. The data for this study were gathered in St. Louis between September 1967 and January 1970. Chapter One focuses on the city school system and the school itself, its social and cultural milieu as well as the training, attitudes, and values the teachers brought with them to the various classrooms. Chapters Two and Three describe the kindergarten experience of one group of children, from the first day of school to the last. Chapter Four briefly follows the same group of children and outlines some of the patterns of organization in the first grade that were found to be influenced by the kindergarten year. Entering into second grade, Chapter Five traces the interactions and activities of the same children until the first weeks after their Christmas vacation. This is followed in Chapter Six by a summary of the study as well as a discussion of several alternatives for breaking the cycle of a perpetual creation of winners and losers. (Author/JM0