The major aims of this book are to provide an account of racial attitude development in young children and to describe the effects of racism on the development of black children, specifically in the United Kingdom. The book draws freely on American and British research in an effort to illuminate the British experience. The first two chapters provide a historical backdrop to the history of prejudice and introduce a social psychological perspective on the issue. The remainder of the book is devoted to developmental aspects of prejudice, i.e., the processes by which children develop racial attitudes as a normal consequence of their socialization within a society in which racial prejudice is widespread. A general discussion of socialization in regard to attitudes and identity is followed by a look at cultural factors in racism. Specific areas addressed are literature, the mass media, and the relationship between color values and racial values. Consequences for the black child of living with prejudice are then examined, as are ways that prejudice may affect other, more general learning in the educational process. Particular reference is made to black children's underachievement in school. Finally, education's role in the wider society, specifically whether education can influence equality between the races, is considered. (CMG)