The current study explores the racial and linguistic self-concept of 138 children between the ages of 5 and 10 years, enrolled in a poor, urban, Jamaican government school. In Jamaica, studies into the racial self-concept of adults have been conducted since as early as 1952 (Kerr); however no study into the development of racial and linguistic self-concept in Jamaican children has yet been documented.

Race and intelligence are usually controversial topics and I usually approach articles or books about these topics with caution or apprehension because the debate surrounding these topics seems to be never-ending. Traditional views on intelligence contend that we inherit our intelligence from our genes (nature) or our environment (nurture) while contemporary views about intelligence hold that our cognitive ability is dependent on both nature (genes) and nurture (the environment).