This essay concerns a basic problem which relates to the integration of the American Negro, especially in schools. Although all ethnic groups in America should have equal civil rights and the opportunity to advance according to abilities, drives, and behavioral standards, we as citizens of a free competitive society must also recognize individuality in abilities, drive, and behavior, while rejecting the notion that race is a valid criterion for judging the individual. No individual characteristics are uniquely Negro. Slavery and racial discrimination have left many Negroes with cultural handicaps which begin to be transmitted to the child in the earliest formative years. The pathogenic effects of poverty, discrimination, and bad culture are freely acknowledged by students of the problem. The equalitarian claims that these environmental factors are the sole cause of average differences in behavior and achievement among the "races." The racist seeks to treat all Negroes as genetically inferior to all whites although he may admit, when questioned, that this is not true. There is a third view which recognizes that while it is clearly established that environmental handicaps occur in a higher proportion of Negroes than in whites, the issue of whether there are consequential differences in the average genetic endowment of Negroes and whites is unsettled. Do genetic handicaps occur more frequently among Negroes than in other ethnic groups? Is there an average difference among the "races" in the genetic endowment supporting drives and achievement? Only a few scientists who recognize that the question is unsolved are willing to state openly that it is important and deserves further study. Some