Are African Americans making progress toward their complete incorporation into American society? No simple answers are available to this question. The predicament in which African Americans find themselves is reflected in the debates about progress. Consequently, the meaning of progress is explored in the first chapter, not to arrive at a definitive concept of progress, but to make clear the ambiguity of the term and its usefulness in examining the African American experience. Chapters 2 through 5 explore the traditions of thought that have attempted to explain and resolve the African American predicament: the liberal neoconservative, Marxist, and cultural approaches. Chapter 6 further explores the political dimensions of these approaches. A case study in Chapter 7 demonstrates the power of the forces restricting black progress. Chapter 8 suggests the elements that deserve additional study for further intellectual, and ultimately practical, progress. Pessimism of the intellect but optimism of the will is the appropriate stance of the African American in the United States. (Contains 323 references.) (SLD)