| Sumario: | This essay explores how social psychologically the social structure of capitalist inequality has given rise to the Black-White achievement gap. This critical understanding is a reinterpretation of the 'burden of acting White' hypothesis, and suggests that research on the achievement gap should focus on how the Black-White achievement gap is more a result of two interrelated epiphenomena, 'mismatch of linguistic structure' and 'mismatch of linguistic social functions', which result from the class structure in Black America as opposed to a 'burden of acting White', the idea that Black students intentionally underachieve because of racialized peer pressure which, culturally, associates academic achievement and success with White Americans.
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