Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race: A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity, Revised edition

Rating:
Summary: Building Change Agents
Review: In the 1999 introduction to the revised edition of "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?" And Other Conversations About Race: A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity, Beverly Daniel Tatum explains that she wrote the book not only to answer questions like the title question but also "to help others move beyond fear, beyond anger, beyond denial to a new understanding of what racism is, how it impacts all of us, and ultimately what we can do about it" (pg. ix). For persons of standard average European background surrounded, for the most part, by others who share this delineation, race is often the elephant in the living room; everyone knows it is there, but nobody is talking about it. Reading this book forces one to look at the elephant; however, not everyone will agree upon what it is they are seeing.
Tatum divides the text into five parts, unequal in both length and value. Many white readers may never get past the first chapter, as the definition of racism included will make them too uncomfortable. Understanding and accepting the described definition of racism as a system of advantage is central to distilling meaning from much of what follows. As long as readers continue to resist the concept of institutional racism, the subsequent sections on black identity (part 2), white identity (part 3), multiracial identity (part 4), and cross racial dialogue (part 5) have little meaning. Although it is necessary to begin the book with a discussion of terminology, the idea that only white people can be racist immediately sends up red flags to those raised to believe racism is a personal evil, born of vicious intent. This makes using Tatum's book in an educational context difficult, unless readers work to overcome these feelings and, at the very least, suspend disbelief regarding the definitions for the duration of the book.
Section two, "Understanding Blackness in a White Context," is a decent explanation of the work of Cross, explaining the stages of the development of racial identity. To make this section more readable and interesting, Tatum adds personal stories to illustrate the stages. For white people working with black children, teens, or adults, reading this section may illuminate previously misunderstood issues. Section three, however, truly sets this book apart from other books on racism and minority identity. "Understanding Whiteness in a White Context" discusses the identity formation of white individuals as well as affirmative action. Readers who were distinctly uncomfortable with the first section may feel somewhat soothed by the chapter on white identity, recognizing themselves more easily in the portrait of a child raised to be "colorblind" than in the definition of racism. This chapter is important because it shows the system of racism affecting white people as well as people of colour. As part of the "norm" of American society, seen by others as individuals rather than representatives of a group, white people have the luxury of generally not having to think about institutional racism. Commonly, when they come to accept their role in the system, the reaction is guilt. Tatum reassures her readers that this guilt is normal and that there are productive ways to get past the guilt and move towards dialogue both with whites and people of colour. The following chapter on affirmative action may ruffle a few feathers, but no one ever said change was supposed to be easy.
The fourth section, dealing with multiracial and other racial identities, is by far the weakest area of the book. After the in-depth, personal exploration of black and white identity, it feels as if Tatum is merely giving lip service to Latinos, American Indians, and Asian Pacific Americans. The text is dry and reads awkwardly, as if the author herself is not quite comfortable with her role in describing the ideas discussed. The chapter on multiracial identity is better, as Tatum gets back into her comfort zone of dealing with black and white, however, it is stunted and serves more as a catalyst for further investigation than as an actual source of information.
Part five is made up of the short but inspirational chapter on creating cross racial dialogues. This chapter could stand alone as a motivation for social change. Using quotes from "real people" as well as researchers, Tatum encourages everyone to "continually break the silence about racism whenever we can" despite fear, frustration, and anger (1999, pg. 193). Following the pep talk is a very thorough and well thought out appendix of starting points for dialogue. Having viewed/read several of the mentioned videos and books listed, it is my opinion that this section is a wonderful resource. Even if readers are never quite comfortable with Tatum's discussion of racial issues, they should not hesitate to delve into the resources listed at the back of this book.
Overall, this book is an excellent start towards achieving the goals of cross racial understanding and dialogue, provided white readers push past their initial squeamishness regarding the sociological definition of racism as an institution. Beverly Tatum's straightforward discussion of race gives readers a knowledge base from which they can spring confidently into conversations. While no book can in and of itself remedy societal ills, "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" does the next best thing; it inspires and empowers change agents.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a Corvette with a flat tire...
Review: What I mean by this unique title is that it has good fundamentals, psychological proof, and great ideas, but its not going anywhere. I applaud Dr. Tatum as to putting very instance (at least being black) of racism into her pages. She discusses the influence of society and its negative images of blacks in the music, movies, and news. The images of beauty and the standards set by Whites in society. She also shows how through ages that racism is progressed and how even children young as the age of 5 that racism is implemented in their minds. White children even internalize that they are the standard by questioning the color of black kids than there own. But the one thing that the author does not donate time too is the fact that blacks as a people are not doing the best they can to better themselves in society. Yeah you can blame current prejudices, psychological problems, and the domination of whites in society. I am a black male and I do not feel that Blacks are doing all they can to better their situation in American society. For example, no matter how much black students may want to stop learning as a way 'of getting' back at white authority. They are not doing anything, but hurting themselves and eventually supporting the sterotypes that whites and other blacks have about blacks. There is so much more to this book, and so many situations. But it is a must read and will prompt many conversations. It is a daring attempt on Dr. Tatum's part and I have enjoyed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Not a personal attack, only truth-telling...
Review: For starters, I read some of the reviews of this book before I picked it up to read. Most at least acknowledged there is work to be done so some of the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty about discussing racism can cease. Others took this book as a personal attack on them, and lo and behold, I saw exactly why as I read the book. Dr. Tatum did not write this book with the intention of threatening anyone group of people; rather she wrote it addressing a problem which has occured for centuries. She broke it down with the most simplistic question one could pose, which served as the title of the book. People (keep in mind they are Black, as well as White, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, and so on) who get all upset and bent out of shape over what they read in the book most likely are the same people who believe either racism does not exist, or shy away from it and never want to discuss it. Therefore, they take the content of the book as a personal attack, and it is seen in their reviews of the book. Once you see them, you can tell they never gave her a chance to get in-depth on the topic of racism, racial identity, and so forth. I go to a university where there are a number of nationalities present. The Black students for the most part sit together in the student union, as do the White students, Asian students, Hispanic students, Middle Eastern students, and so forth. People are involved in a variety of organizations, fraternities, sororities, multicultural organizations, and so on. This book discusses not only Black-White relations, but other racial relations with people of color. It discusses affirmative action and its ACTUAL MEANING and who the beneficiaries are (no, it doesn't only serve to help Black folks) as well as identity development for biracial individuals, which is something that is extremely overlooked in my opinion. There are plenty of examples and accounts from students, as well as administrators, addressing their encounters when discussing racism, racial identity, and its effects. There is even a portion in the book that deals with the number of different religions on a college campus and how one particular institution was able to accomodate everyone so they would have somewhere to exercise their beliefs comfortably. This book can help anyone and everyone address this problem and discuss it in a very constructive, critical, and even refreshing way if done properly and with patience. If you pick this book up and read it with an open mind, you should gain something from it, and whether you decide to build on it is up to you.

Rating:
Summary: Examine where you stand, even if you disagree
Review: As you review all the "reviews" thus far written, you get a sense that Dr. Tatum's book has gotten people thinking and taking stands. I appreciate the straightforwardness with which Tatum introduces her subject -- racism. Sure, we can disagree with her definitions and use of rhetorics. But she made the definition clear and prominent enough so that we can disagree. It is hard to measure oneself by a wishy-washy yard-stick. Tatum provided a solid yard stick by which you may examine your own stance, assumptions, and conclusions. In reading the reviews, especially the critical ones, it struck me that even those who strongly diagreed with Tatum understood her basic premises and her arguments. It is upon that understanding that we can disagree. I applaud the author for clearly laying out her arguments on a controversial issue.

The main strength of the book, to me, is in fact the redefinition of racism. You don't have to agree with it, but you do now need to examine whether a "system of advantage" exists and if it does, whether it should be included in the definition of racism. I am neither white nor black, so I cannot speak of black/white issues in first-person. But I come from a family with four generations of academics. The sytem of school, academia, and education benefits me greatly, and I suit the system particularly through by upbringing. By analogy, I am open to the idea that past explicit systems of racial inequality do not lose its effect in a mere generation or two, especially for the black race. Through my reading, I am questioning and examining my own assumptions as well as that of the author's. To that extent, I think the book is doing its most important job -- make you think.

The weakest point of the book is also in relation to the definition. The author included both internal belief and external system of advantage into her definition of racism, but only spent significant time exploring the system, but not belief. The author talks much about how the environment shapes the individual, but not how the beliefs of an individual (particularly, a black person) can alter the environment and his/her own fate. It places the black individual in a powerless position, except through the path of activism in racial issues. The book largely ignores the reverse stereotypes that many whites feel from the blacks. The book simply does not name it, or implies that it doesn't count as "racism". Whatever the name, minority stereotype of the majority exists, and it should/can be addressed. I am a racial minority, and I hold such stereotypes.

The integration of identity theory with the racial issue is a valiant attempt. Sure it's not perfect, but it is a working hypothesis and I applaud the author's ability to present it in a way that is understanable and arguable.

The weakness of the identity theory presented is the overemphasis that we develop positive self identity only (or at least, first) by "sitting together" with our own kind. By that suggestion, must whites first sit whites during teen years, and rich with rich, poor with poor, woman with woman, man with man, athletes with athletes, nerds with nerds? Sure, that IS a big part of identity forming. The cost of "sitting with your own kind" is that your development gets stuck in a rut. You have few exposures to fresh ideas, ideas that would conflict with each of our narrow and individual views (and thus stimulate you to oppose, assimulate, or digest). Cognitive theories of child development places much emphasis on "cognitive conflict" in conceptual development. Though the author do advocate cross-racial dialogue, it struck me that the author overtly favors within-racial identity development, particularly for the black youth. Perhaps the argument is that blacks are "conflicted" enough by a white society, so they need not seek more. Are the black youth in America so oppressed so as not to be able to reap much benefit from other groups in identity formation? I don't know. I do question the argument "same kind first, and then cross lines" ... My gut feeling is that both should proceed more or less simultaneously.

Each of us, as readers, have our own ongoing identity development in relation to the question of race. The author, through this book, is beginning a cross-racial talk. Her clarity and honesty in the positions she had taken confront our minds, as if a "different" person is suddenly sitting at our lunch table". To that extent, I greatly appreciate the book, even while disagreeing with some ideas, agreeing with some ideas, and still digesting others.


Rating:
Summary: Viewing the world in Black & White
Review: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here we are, already a few years into a savage new 21st century, fighting a perilous war for our freedoms and lives. Africa roils with carnage and catastrophe, her plains and rivers running red with the Butcher's bill of AIDs, mass genocide, tribal slaughter, and even slavery in the Sudan.

But for Beverly Daniel Tatum, the world has stood still on its axis for decades. For Dr. Tatum, it has been, is, and always will be 1953---perhaps even 1859: before the sixties, and bussing, and Brown versus Board of Education, even before the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves.

This is the gist of "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?": that America will forever be culturally racist. Even the most well-meaning liberal whites are wired by tAmerican culture to view skin as social virtue.

Dr. Tatum strategically redefines "racism" to suit her theory, winning her battle before the first shot is fired: Tatum says racism is no longer the active practice of ascribing superiority according to racial characteristics, and consequently judging a man by skin color.

Racism is a "system of advantage": count up the US GDP, tabulate the value of all US assets, then break down the wealth according to race: white Americans hold all the cards, because they are economically advantaged. White society cannot help but oppress "people of color" through passive racism. And because racism---and social oppression---can only be practiced by those who hold societal power and privilege, only whites can be racist.

Tatum's conclusion? Black children self-segregating is not necessarily a tragedy---quite the contrary. To effectively 'deprogram' young black children of a subliminal inferiority complex (Tatum calls this "internalized oppression") hard-wired into them by racist White American culture, they must band together, and affirm a positive racial identity not fraught with mixed (ie: white and wicked) messages about beauty, language, success, and politics.

Before moving on to dissect what's wrong with Tatum's theory and 'analysis', a few questions:

1)Why *are* all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? And for that matter, why are all the punks sitting together? Or the Goths? Or the Stoners, Metalheads, and Jocks?

2) Is race the most important---or even *an* important---measure of a man? And if so, is forming exclusive cliques based entirely on racial characteristics, with the express goal of "forging a positive racial identity", the best way of coping, and thriving, in a multiracial (or even racist) society?

3)If White racism plays such a deadly role in the development of young blacks (and other racial "minorities"), then why are some of the most powerful, successful, and wealthiest Americans black men and women?: TV hosts like Oprah Winfrey, government officials like Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, and Condoleeza Rice, actors like Danny Glover and Wesley Snipes, entertainers from Wynton Marsalis to Dr. Dre, basketball players like Karl Malone and Shaq, even academics like herself (Tatum is now President of prestigious---and all-black and female---Spelman college---no minor feat) and Harvard's Cornell West.

4) Finally, if inveterately "racist" white American culture sends out subtle signals affirming "white" standards, then why has black culture so powerfully shaped and transformed American society? From the Declaration of Indepence to our modern State Department, from jazz to the Notorious B.I.G., black culture has become inextricably linked with American culture. Dr. Tatum should go figure out the racial breakdown of rapper 50 Cent's CD sales.

The problem with Tatum's analysis is threefold: 1) Why do black kids sit together in the cafeteria? Because race---how another man looks---has always been the lowest common denonimator of social organization, the most primal organizing principle. Go to a prison, Dr. Tatum, and ruminate on why black prisoners congregate together---or, for that matter, Chicano prisoners, and Nazi White Pride skinheads. 2) Tatum's approach is as a psychologist, which means the book is entirely anecdotal. This is not a scholarly work (although it is force-fed on university students as such)---this is a highly personal, completely biased screed against an imagined Enemy.

But frankly, 3) Tatum's prescription against racism---drawing together with "those of your kind"---is a bullet fired into the brain of the considerable progress we have made in this country in the last 40 turbulent years. The glory of America is that we can transcend the arbitrary limits and classifications of skin, size, and geographical birth. Demographics, at least in our nation, is not destiny.

Dr. Tatum rightly condemns anti-intellectualism among black schoolkids as a means of "getting back" at White society. But her prescription would only aggravate that tendency. And that is where I begin to suspect Dr. Tatum, who has based an entire career on chronicling oppression and racism, has an ulterior agenda: it is in her interest to foment a divide based on the pure fiction of racial difference. It makes her money to do so.

For Beverly Daniel Tatum, as with her fellow racialist profiteers Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, time will forever be stalled, progress completely becalmed, the clocks of the country stopped dead at 5 minutes to 12, December 31, 1953. It would impoverish them, decimate their race-shackled constituency, and deprive them of nationally televised, publicly funded bully pulpits to acknowledge anything else.

For Beverly Daniel Tatum, it is always---and will always be---the day before a brave young Alabama woman named Rosa Parks made her stand by sitting in the *front* of a Montgomery public bus---with her fellow citizens, white or otherwise. Dr. Tatum's message in this book comes across loud and clear: Rosa Parks should have stayed at the back of the bus.

Rating:
Summary: great look at identity issues, more for white people
Review: I think Tatum's articulation of the identity issues that every racial group goes through is wonderful. As a young black woman reading the first section of the book, I found myself nodding a lot and even gaining some insights about myself as well. Tatum articulated many of the feelings about race that I haven't been able to. For the white people who attacked this book vehemetly, well I think you're the people she is trying to reach and maybe with a second reading you'll get the point of the book. The book I think was meant especially to get white people to understand racism and to see how they maintain racism w/o even realizing it (even for white people who aren't overtly racist--which is the majority of white America). The one gripe--if you can call it that--that I have with book is that it really doesn't question black people to challenge their own self-identity. For example, she accurately points out the massive rejection of education and intellectualism in the black community and how education and intellectualism are rejected b/c they are seen as white. While it is great that she points this out I really wish she would've challenged African Americans to look at this issue, change it and not just accept it as another symptom of racism. Overall, the book is excellent. I just wish that Tatum had given more concrete advice to groups of color on how to have positive self identities despite being in a racist society.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not Great
Review: I had to read this book for school, and agreed with most of the points she makes, except for a select few that inhibit the book's ability to really convince me of anything monumental. Firstly, she redefines "racism" as "a system of advantage." This redefinition may seem harmless enough, but it actually allows her to change the rules of the debate, because if that's the definition she's using for her book, then she can legitimately say that all white people are racist. Of course she's right with her particular definition, but who really cares how SHE defines it? While she might consider herself as being academic and trying to educate us by changing the definition of a word we know very well, she just comes off as changing the rules in the middle of the game, then declaring herself the winner.

That major flaw aside, there are other points Tatum brings up that most of us never think about, and really should consider--things like the identity problems that mixed race kids might face, and all of the complexities of establishing a racial identity in general, FOR EVERYONE. Not many white people realize that they need to establish their own racial identity just as any other individual of any skin color needs to, and Tatum expresses this poignantly.

All in all, this is a book that will make you think a couple times, but won't go any further than that. It's a question of aspirations--if Tatum wanted to change lives with this book, she surely failed. On the other hand, if all she wanted to do was get you to learn a few things about racial identity and think about race relations in this country a little bit, then she succeeded.

Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: I am white and went to a school that took in a very large black student body. The reverse racism I witnessed while growing up sickened me. Black students were given a multitude of benefits, bestowed by black administrators at the school. It is because of books like this that it is automatically assumed the white community will just sit back and take it because it is our due for the racism commited years ago. One commentator below made an excellent point: this author makes genrealizations about white people when she is in fact black. Were we to do the same, hell would break loose.
Black people, apparently, are inherently different from other people. While it is true that cultural differences do exist and should be celebrated, I think it is dangerous to foster "racial" identity to the exlcusion of an overarching humanism. Perhaps this is the reason I was harassed at school almost daily by blacks?
Black people face economic disadvantages that put them behind whites. That is an issue of money, not race. I do not believe that the majority of blacks face much racism today. They face strife and disadvantage... but because of financial distress, not the color of their skin. Turning this into a debate about color is worthwhile to no one. Maybe in the deep South, but no where in America have I witnessed the kind of racism this book assumes. In fact, from what I notice, we actually live in a hip hop dominated culture. Turn on MTV. Check out the fashion and the music taste of the kid down the street.
This book is not worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a Corvette with a flat tire...
Review: What I mean by this unique title is that it has good fundamentals, psychological proof, and great ideas, but its not going anywhere. I applaud Dr. Tatum as to putting very instance (at least being black) of racism into her pages. She discusses the influence of society and its negative images of blacks in the music, movies, and news. The images of beauty and the standards set by Whites in society. She also shows how through ages that racism is progressed and how even children young as the age of 5 that racism is implemented in their minds. White children even internalize that they are the standard by questioning the color of black kids than there own. But the one thing that the author does not donate time too is the fact that blacks as a people are not doing the best they can to better themselves in society. Yeah you can blame current prejudices, psychological problems, and the domination of whites in society. I am a black male and I do not feel that Blacks are doing all they can to better their situation in American society. For example, no matter how much black students may want to stop learning as a way 'of getting' back at white authority. They are not doing anything, but hurting themselves and eventually supporting the sterotypes that whites and other blacks have about blacks. There is so much more to this book, and so many situations. But it is a must read and will prompt many conversations. It is a daring attempt on Dr. Tatum's part and I have enjoyed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: that's just what she was talking about!
Review: (...)This book does an excellent job of describing the ways that racism exists today, and moreover, tactics for overcoming it. By stating that racism may be a "white problem," Tatum is not calling all of us racists, she is saying that the problems that still exist today can best be solved by those who hold the power. Acknowledging your (my) privilege takes courage, but it needs to be done. ML King was great, but he got what he was looking for and things are still dangerous, schools and busineses are still segregated, and angry whites are still ultra-defensive and refusing to help change things. There's another part of the puzzle, and Tatum is giving us a guide.