Objectives This study addresses whether relative deprivation theory explains why some blacks perceive that the civil rights movement and black elected officials failed to improve the lot of the black community, including their own life chances. Methods We use data from a nationally representative survey of black adults, collected approximately 15 years after the passing of landmark civil rights legislation. Results Net of control variables, we find that relative deprivation associates significantly and positively with perceived inefficacy of black elected officials. However, relative deprivation does not predict perceptions of the civil rights movement as ineffective. Conclusions We know too little about mechanisms that produce variation in blacks’ perceptions of race‐related social change. Today's economic and sociopolitical climate provides a unique opportunity to explore and explain such variation.