Large segments of the African-American population lack the educational and financial resources to participate fully in building a high-technology economy and in consuming its products. Maintaining large undereducated and unproductive segments of society is a recipe for collective social unrest. The United States today requires a highly educated work force working together to compete in today's technologically sophisticated global economy. There are two options to achieve this: depend on immigrants to heal the ailing economy or pursue racial attempts to educate Americans who are already in the United States, particularly those groups that have historically been impoverished. It is increasingly important to raise a new generation of well-educated, minority critical thinkers who will contribute to the advancement of commerce and technology in the United States. This paper discusses the current state of African-Americans relative to the evidence and application of critical thinking skills in the academic environment. It also examines some of the contextual factors surrounding this state. African-American youths must not merely be educated, their education should be designed to grow out of a substrata of systematic, well-reasoned, critical thought. Ways to introduce critical thinking skills and the significance of the attainment and application of such skills among African-Americans are also addressed: i.e., inspect the mode of instruction and the scope of the curriculum and stress courses that call for analytic reasoning. (Contains 43 references.) (LMI)