To advocate the work of Gregory Bateson, especially his Double-Bind theory, this paper describes how the theory can be applied to particular instances and to the general experience of black students in a predominantly white, authoritarian college setting. The paper argues that miscues on the part of black students in the classroom and in writing are a result of confused, near-pathological behavior in a hostile environment. It explains these behaviors as the result of the double-bind, in which black students become enmeshed while trying to respond to a teacher's mixed messages regarding the mechanical structures of edited American English and appropriate rhetorical strategies. For black students, the paper recommends three to six hours of weekly one-to-one instruction in writing, the use of Tyteca's "The New Rhetoric" to delineate rhetorical models, and instruction in using process models to write papers. It also recommends using strategies for translating original manuscripts into edited American English, including computerized text editing systems. (CRH)