In 1987 a project was undertaken to assess the status of African Americans in the United States in the topical areas to be addressed by the National Research Council's Study Committee on the Status of Black Americans: education, employment, income and occupations, political participation and the administration of justice, social and cultural change, health status and medical care, and the family. Six volumes resulted from the study. Volume I presents essays on the overall status of African Americans in the United States. The following are included: (1) "Stratification and Subordination: Change and Continuity" (E. Yvonne Moss and Wornie L. Reed); (2) "Race and Inequality in the Managerial Age" (William Darity, Jr.); (3) "Research on African-American Families: A Holistic Perspective" (Robert B. Hill); (4) "Black Political Participation" (E. Yvonne Moss); (5) "Blacks: A Valuable National Pool of Talent" (Charles V. Willie); (6) "African-Americans and the Administration of Justice" (E. Yvonne Moss); and (7) "Health and Medical Care" (Wornie L. Reed and Carolyne W. Arnold). An appendix lists project study group members and contributors. Each chapter contains references. (SLD)