Blacks in the White Establishment?: A Study of Race and Class in America

"The next thing the girl said was, 'I've never been near anyone black except for my maid.' And I thought, I'm going to have problems here."--Bobette Reed Kahn What were the feelings and experiences of the young blacks from economically impoverished backgrounds who in the 1960s were placed in white upper-class prep schools? What do their current attitudes and achievements reveal about the importance of race and class in America? In this sensitive and engrossing book, a social psychologist and a political sociologist report on the early graduates of A Better Chance, a program designed to recruit and prepare minority students for entry into exclusive boarding schools, elite colleges and universities, and ultimately positions of power and prestige. Zwegenhaft and Domhoff's book is a vivid testimony to the costs and the rewards of this innovative attempt to transcend racial barriers. As Zweigenhaft and Domhoff relate, these young men and women faced difficulties in the dramatic transition