This paper examines the educational consequences of racial stratification or the system of racial castes in the United States. The central thesis of the paper is that the subordinate status occupied by blacks because of racial stratification requires and promotes lower school performance or school failure and that therefore this school failure represents a kind of adaptation. In order to understand how this adaptation emerges, two kinds of linkages in the educational processes are studied. The first is that between, on one hand, the job and role ceiling, and on the other, the policies and practices of the school system, race affects the subordinate group members beliefs about their opportunities in society, how they perceive their schooling in relation to their belief system, and how their perceptions and beliefs are related to their efforts in school. The second linkage is that between the job and role ceiling and the problems of language, cognition, motivation, and peer group pressures. This essay deals with the first linkage and how it works and contributes to black school failure in Stockton, California, a community which was studied between 1968 and 1970. The limitations experienced by black children in this community affected their preparation for future jobs and roles. School policies and practices did little to encourage black children to do well or to stay in school to prepare themselves for higher status social and economic roles. Blacks in this community used other strategies to achieve greater social and economic participation (playing Uncle Toms). Programs introduced to encourage better school performance among blacks proved ineffective. It seems that they were designed and implemented without any serious consideration for the social and structural forces affecting black education as discussed in this paper. (Author/AM)