Presently the paucity of scholarship available is often unitary in nature and usually focuses on the lived experiences of African Americans principals in a predominately African American urban context and as well as emphasizes the necessity of same race principals for the purpose of mentorship and racial representation. Race and cultural identity are inaccurately seen as synonymous. However, this qualitative research is revisionist in nature by offering counter-narratives depicting African Americans' lived experiences as secondary principals on the U.S.-Mexico border of El Paso, Texas. This research illustrates the racial climate and race relations between two U.S. minorities, African Americans and Mexican Americans--where African Americans serve as principals at majority Mexican American secondary schools. This study used a series of Seidman (2006) semi-structured individual interviews, reflective journaling, intergroup Theory and phenomenology. A total of five research participants were obtained. Research participants were attained through a combination of purposeful and snowball sampling. Research participants were digitally recorded and were asked a series of questions regarding their perceptions of how each navigate and negotiate their race and cultural identity as it pertains to their role as secondary principals in majority Mexican American schools on the U.S.-Mexico border of El Paso, Texas. This study suggests same race affiliations in principalship selections do not necessarily have resonance on the U.S.-Mexico border of El Paso, Texas despite popular scholarship. Evidence in this study suggests that the perception of African American principals continues to be heavily influenced by popular media in gendered and racialized ways (Glanz, 1997; Tillman 2007). Although the level of racism is not as prevalent as initially assumed, racism is indeed present in El Paso, Texas. However, overarching evidence suggests that a significant amount of experienced conflict was a result of cultural differences, power differences, conformity vs. identity affirmation, and group boundaries as explained by Intergroup Theory. Ultimately, for African Americans, success and access to the secondary principalship in majority Mexican American schools on the U.S.-Mexico border of El Paso, Texas is feasible, but not without small bouts of racial complications and cultural misunderstandings. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]