Children's perceptions and attitudes about racial groups are often affected by the information they receive from the view of their parents, their peers, their schools, and the mass media. A study was designed to examine the effects of positive portrayals of black television characters on black children's racial attitudes, self-perception, and racial identification. Data were collected from black children (N=60) attending 1st and 2nd grades. Children were exposed to one of three experimental treatments. The effects of television programs on racial attitudes, self-perception, and racial identification varied by the sex of the child. There was some support for the expected positive attitudes to blacks for males who watched positive portrayals of black characters. Children exposed to same-sex black television characters showed an increase in self-perception. Boys expressed higher racial identification than girls did when exposed to positive portrayals of black characters on television. (Contains 30 references.) (JDM)