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Ever since I was fifteen years old I have been self-consciously aware that I am a Negro. Of course, I had known that I belonged to a group that was distinctly different from at least one other group, but until I was fifteen I did not know that my group was supposed to be the inferior one. Since then I have felt a personal responsibility to change the status of my group. There is no way for one Black to change his basic status without first changing that of all Blacks. I have long recognized the folly of advocating a change simply because it is right, because it is humane, because it is Christian, because it is in the Constitution, or for any other nonpractical reason. I am aware of another important fact: if I were a white man, I would not give up my favored position unless there was an extrememly good reason. The greatest hope for a major change in the basic status of African Americans is to convice the American whites that it is in their best interest. It is my firm conviction that the solution must result in the material improvement of both groups concerned - the oppressors as well as the oppressed.