The education and economic status of Blacks and Hispanics is the foremost crisis facing the United States today. The viability of this nation as a participant in the global economy is directly related to its solution. Supporting these statements is a demographic analysis of the current economic and education situation. The following related topics are discussed: (1) inflexible, rigid institutions that lack adaptability to a changing world and are obstacles to national competition; (2) lower national competitiveness due to underutilization of minority populations, and nonresponsive educational institutions; (3) declining size of Black and White cohorts compared to increasing size of Hispanic and Asian cohorts; (4) teacher competency tests that Blacks fail six times more often than Whites; and (5) the need to teach Black children how to pass tests. Raising test scores must be a "system" goal. Future trends indicate a worsening situation for Blacks in this country and increasing social and political isolation of middle class Blacks from other Blacks. Included are recommendations for improving the educational and economic status of Blacks. (PS)