A number of the historical and contemporary games of black children reflect an attitude of resistance and assertion on the part of the players. Older game songs, dating from the days of slavery, express a recreative anger against slave masters or a contempt for the theater image of the jolly plantation slave, Jim Crow. Post-Civil War songs and dances defy the degradation of the slave experience and convey a buoyant hope for a better future. The contemporary games of black children, selected from a sample of children in the Buffalo (New York) black community, comment on sexuality, health, looks, and parental influence. Some games teach cause and consequence concepts or emphasize counting and learning the alphabet; others act out nonverbally the awareness of social roles and behavior. All of these games demonstrate the creative energy that black children exert in meeting the oppressive conditions that exist in their lives. (MAI)