I use photoshop to make some images but can''t get the alpha map to keep the colors. Whenever I alpha map the end result is always B&W. Can anyone explain how to alpha map a TGA image in photoshop?

Hmmm.. alpha is always in B&W because it only controls the mask. RGB is where you paint whatever you want to be seen, and then A (alpha) is where you specify the mask.

How do I get the picture to remain in color while I change the black into an alpha? I have been taught wrong cause everytime I do it the image goes black.

You could try saving the alpha map in a separate file and merging it at runtime, or making your own file format and a simple little program to merge RGB and Alpha bitmaps into one.