ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the degree to which black and white Americans share a mutual evaluation of government and political processes today as compared with 1968, only a few years after the moment when Dr. King electrified the huge crowd on the mall—and the nation—with his "I Have a Dream" speech. The idea of a social contract, which really represents little more than a pledge of citizens' loyalty in return for fairness of treatment, implies a joint commitment between citizens and government. A system of apartheid, if that is an accurate depiction of racial segregation, would clearly contradict the notion of a universally shared social contract. Public schools share with other basic social institutions the responsibility for turning children into productive and successful workers and competent citizens. In theory, individuals relinquish their individual police powers to the community. Whites and blacks of similar educational attainment have similar levels of local political efficacy regardless of local political context.
