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"None of the versions of the class-inequality [argument] can explain why black students from similar social class backgrounds, residing in the same neighborhood, and attending the same school, don't do as well as white students," wrote Ogbu. "Within the black population, of course, middle-class children do better, on the average, than lower-class children, just as in the white population. However, when blacks and whites from similar socioeconomic backgrounds are compared, one sees that black students at every class level perform less well in school than their white counterparts."

Ogbu and his team of researchers were given access to parents, teachers, principals, administrators, and students in the Shaker Heights school district, which was one of the country's best. And he concluded that black culture, more than anything else, explained the academic achievement gap. The black kids readily admitted that they didn't work as hard as whites, took easier classes, watched more TV, and read fewer books. "A kind of norm of minimum effort appeared to exist among black students," wrote Ogbu. "The students themselves recognized this and used it to explain both their academic behaviors and their low academic achievement performance." Due to peer pressure, some black students "didn't work as hard as they should and could." Among their black friends, "it was not cool to be successful" or "to work hard or to show you're smart." One female student said that some black students believed "it was cute to be dumb." Asked why, "she said it was because they couldn't do well and that they didn't want anyone else to do well."