THREE SEPARATE STUDIES WERE MADE RELATING TO THE AREA OF RACIAL ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTION. SEVERAL ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLIE THE STUDY--(1) THE CAUCASIAN POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES HARBORS A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF RACIAL PREJUDICE TOWARD NEGROES, (2) URBAN TEACHING STAFFS WHICH ARE DRAWN CHIEFLY FROM CAUCASIAN, MIDDLE-CLASS COMMUNITIES SHARE THE NEGATIVE RACIAL ATTITUDES OF THEIR SOCIETY, (3) NEGATIVE ATTITUDES IMPEDE THE PARTICIPATION OF MIDDLE-CLASS WHITE TEACHERS IN PROGRAMS FOR THE DEPRIVED CHILD, USUALLY EITHER NEGRO OR PUERTO RICAN. THE FIRST STUDY CONSISTED OF A COMPARISON OF TWO GROUPS OF STUDENT TEACHERS. ONE GROUP WAS MADE UP OF STUDENTS WHO HAD VOLUNTEERED TO PARTICIPATE IN A PROGRAM IN "TOUGH" SCHOOLS. THE SECOND GROUP CONTAINED THOSE WHO HAD REJECTED THE PROJECT AND CHOSEN TO WORK IN A MIDDLE CLASS, WHITE SCHOOL. QUESTIONNAIRES ANSWERED BY BOTH GROUPS REVEALED THAT THE VOLUNTEERS HAD GREATER NEED TO MEET CHALLENGES SUCCESSFULLY, AND THAT THEY DISPLAYED GREATER SYMPATHY FOR THE DISADVANTAGED THAN DID THE NONVOLUNTEERS. THE NEXT TWO STUDIES SOUGHT TO EVALUATE VARYING CONDITIONS OF CONTACT WITH NEGROES AS A MEANS OF REDUCING RACIAL FEARS AND ANTAGONISMS AND ESTABLISHING A MORE RECEPTIVE GROUP FOR TEACHING DEPRIVED NEGRO CHILDREN. THE FIRST OF THESE EXPERIMENTS WAS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE WHETHER MIDDLE CLASS, WHITE STUDENTS OF EDUCATION WERE MORE AMENABLE TO PERSUASION BY A NEGRO COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR THAN BY A CAUCASIAN INSTRUCTOR THAT THEY SHOULD PREPARE FOR SERVICE IN "TOUGH" SCHOOLS. THE OTHER STUDY COMPARED THE RELATIVE POWERS OF PERSONAL INTEREST AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS VARIABLES AS INDUCEMENTS FOR MIDDLE-CLASS, WHITE STUDENTS TO SELECT NEGRO ASSOCIATES IN WORK SITUATIONS. PERSONAL INTEREST FACTORS PROVED MUCH STRONGER THAN RACE OR SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS.