This paper converges Shelby Steele's discussion on issues facing African-American students in his 1990 book, "The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America" (which argues in part that a self-defeating preoccupation with race reduces their academic performance), with education majors' concerns about teaching culturally diverse students identified from a recent survey. First examined is Steele's perspective on black students in America. The major theme is that African-Americans as a group harbor feelings of inferiority in racially integrated settings, and thus seek reassurance through race which only further inhibits academic and personal progress. Juxtaposed to this is the finding that research examining teachers' professional concerns indicates that teachers harbor considerable concerns about dealing with culturally diverse students, a general fear of a lack of necessary skills in teaching minority students, a sense of lower expectations of African-American students, and a fear that race would become an issue in the classroom as an excuse for low performance. Survey results suggest that teachers may be predisposed to identify African-American students as being responsible for their own substandard performance and under-challenge them as a result. Contains seven references. (GLR)