The lower level of school quality available for blacks relative to whites in the segregated era is frequently cited as a primary cause for the currently observed gap in black-white average wages. The inferior education pro­ vided to black children is argued to have caused lower levels of human capital produc­ tion in black schools than white schools. The gap in black-white wages can be traced to this gap in human capital. Similarly, the convergence in black-and-white average wages during the 1960's and 1970's may be explained by the steady convergence in black-and-white school quality and atten­ dance that began in the 1940's.