ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the most complex and disconcerting aspect of group relations and group conflicts in America, namely with the social role of the American Negro. Johnson's Patterns of Negro Segregation, Richard Sterner's The Negro's Share, and Otto Klinesberg's Characteristics of the American Negro have already been published as separate volumes; others have been carefully filed for scholarly use. The American dilemma is expressed in the discrepancy between the American creed and the American deed. The American creed, founded upon the precepts of evangelical Christianity, the philosophy of the enlightenment, the tradition of English law, and the experience of the American frontier, stands for equality of opportunity. For instance, the American creed stipulates that the Negro in America, like any other American citizen, be entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and so, institutions for the betterment of the Negro race are sponsored and Negro education is encouraged.
