In this scholarly work on black culture, the major contention is that black American culture derives from African culture which is an oral culture, while white American culture derives from European culture which is a lettered culture. This basic difference in cultures, when not considered carefully, makes it impossible to increase the educational performance of blacks over an extended period of time. Basic tenets of black culture are explained in terms of eleven criteria sociologists use to define culture. These criteria are: history, life styles, society within the culture, communications, work occupations, sexism, time, child rearing procedures, recreation, protection. Various manifestations of black culture are discussed and include clothing, music, language, body language, concepts such as good and evil, and black middle class behavior. This study indicates that "If blacks are to be taught and educated it is imperative that methodology, processes and procedures that are buried in the cultural aspects of ones being be considered. If blacks cannot be educated and counseled within the vein of their culture, the Black community will retain its 15.9% dropout rate as contrasted with 6.7% for whites." (PR)