Numerous studies of patient samples have shown that Whites are more likely than African Americans to be diagnosed with a mood disorder, and that African Americans are more likely than Whites to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. There has been much discussion, however, about how to interpret these relationships. Many scholars reject the notion that African Americans actually have higher rates of schizophrenia; neither do they accept the finding of lower rates of mood disorder among African Americans compared to Whites. Instead, many argue that African Americans are misdiagnosed. This study is primary data collection that varied patient race/ethnicity, diagnosis, and employed two diagnostic interviewing conditions: one clinician-structured (Phase One) and the other a semi-structured diagnostic instrument (Phase Two). Four research questions are addressed. First, what is the relationship between race/ethnicity and the hospital diagnosis? Second, how is race/ethnicity related to diagnosis in both (Phase One and Phase Two) research interviewing conditions? Third, does concordance between the hospital diagnosis and the research diagnosis vary by research interviewing condition? Fourth, is concordance between the hospital and research diagnosis influenced by patient race/ethnicity? A total of 291 patients completed an interview during Phase One, while 665 patients completed an interview during Phase Two. Blacks were more likely to receive a hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia and less likely to be diagnosed with mood disorder. Patient race was similarly related to the research diagnoses produced in the Clinician-Structured research condition (Phase One). Although less pronounced, a higher percentage of African Americans than Whites received a diagnosis of schizophrenia using the semi-structured DSM-III-R Symptom Checklist (Phase Two). The Black-White distribution for mood disorders showed that Whites were more likely than Blacks to be diagnosed with mood disorder.