Black power ideology rhetoric and reality in a student sample

In America the ethic of individual achievement has always been balanced by complementary norms of group action. Blacks, however, have been handicapped by a lack of the in-group loyalty required for a united struggle against racial oppression. Black power ideology was conceived as a sociotherapy to increase the level of black group cohesion. This study was designed to provide much needed data on the success of the “therapy.” A survey of 611 black high school students and 93 black college students yielded little evidence that verbally professed endorsement of black power ideology was translated into action. In an experiment. 323 black high school students manifested a consistent tendency to be less helpful to scientists identified as black than to unidentified scientists, regardless of the students' claimed level of black power orientation.