The black family is the primary socializing agent of the black child and, thus, the primary educator. The culture of blacks in America, in which the child is steeped, is unique, complex and rich-the result of a convergence and fusion of African, American, and European influences. In its education of the black child, the black family must deal, from beginning to end, with questions of racism and with questions deriving from racism. Today, most questions involving race in the raising of children still fall into the two main categories of how to deal with overt and covert racist expressions, and the resolution of questions of racial identity. Prime among the special problems facing the black family is the need to raise its children bi-culturally. The black child's bicultural experience is one of the ramifications of racism, and it is pivotal in his struggle for racial identity. Also central to the child's bicultural experience is language. The challenge to the black family, as mediator, as educator, is monumental; but its broader structure, its extended family, and its rich heritage can transcend racism, and produce bilingual, bicultural skilled Americans. (Author/AM)