Nineteen latency-age boys in treatment at a psychiatric clinic and their mothers are the subjects of this investigation. Conflict about color varied in severity among the boys and mothers. The wish to be white, and the defense mechanisms of identification with the (white) aggressor and turning of aggression against the self were frequently evident. The mothers' problems, notably those associated with the matriarchal role, and their influence on the sons' development are briefly analyzed. Brody believes it is extremely unlikely that a relationship with a mother as the most important power, however secure, can be an adequate basis for the development of a stable social identity in a boy, whether in terms of sex, color, or any other significant element.