“Why are the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum
The book “Why are the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum not only explores the development of racial identity in the United States but also provides reads with an understanding of why race and racism continue to exist in our world. The author of the book effectively answers articulated by the title of the book, and I concur with her thoughts regarding affirmative action and the racist society. In the book Beverly analysis, the definition of racism and the development of racial identity and later in her work, she offers solutions to problems relating to racism which is dominating us today. She believes racism is not meant for an individual, but instead, it’s a cultural problem where ethnicity would assign some groups more privileges than others. For a better understanding of the topic, the book looks at the interaction of the black and the white in childhood and adolescence.
To set up the way racism is talk Beverly makes use of the definition of racism articulated by David Wellman where she states that “ he defines racism as a system of advantage based on race” (Tatum, Pg7). The quote reveals that the minority cannot be racists as they are not entitled to any benefit from past oppression which plays a crucial role in the formation of the system. I disagree with the articulation since the minority who are the top are likely to benefit at the expense of the minority in the lower and therefore holding such a claim would mean we forget the existence of interiority racism. She tries to emphasize the argument that black cannot be racists. Inthat context, the people of colour are the ones termed as a minority. The Latinos and the Asians Americans in the book represent the minority as they are the largest population of colour. At this time the children of colour are outnumbering the white, and the election of the first black president was posing segregation in school thus making the work of Beverly on racism more relevant. She wants to move fear and understanding of what racism entails.
Racial identity being a significant topic of discussion in the books it dominates and we realize that each one of us has constructed or is constructing what it is meant to be a person of colour or a white person the society that is ace conscious(Tatum, Pg. xvii). To bring out the aspect, Beverly talks about how parents fail to communicate with their children on the issue of racism due to its ugliness nature. She argues that parents fear instilling fear in their children where it might not exist and therefore prefer not to talk about the plague when there is no problem. Through the work of the book, it can be observed that the topic is touchy and can easily steer an individual in the wrong way if the matter is not handled in the right way.
In the book, the author has the theory on racial identity that people act as a mirror from which we can see ourselves (Tatum, pg18). Mostly, it can be observed that the part of us that does have much of our attention tends to be the point of interest to other people, and that would bounce back to us through reflection. She tries to pass the message that what a person tells some is what they tend to believe even if that is not the case. These can be evidenced when she tells her students to describe themselves and many go-ahead to use descriptive worlds which can only be impacted by the second person.
Beverly, in the book, does not seem to be like a racist herself. She is always articulating how the whites gain from things that they are not aware they benefit from. These ignores the presence of specific groups and organizations that are meant purely for black people. This challenge she to take another look at the society in future works before she can say the white benefit tremendously as I disagree with the way she drills the opinion. Besides, she emphasizes on telling how people should think. A significant part of the book is letting people feel freed to be who they are and be proud of the background and thinking on their own and for themselves.
As Beverly winds up the book, he calls for dialogue that does not just entail chatting but productive conversing that can initiate effective action and social change that would help in saving the masses from the plague of racism. In this last part of the book, it emergences clearly that people are silent as a result of fear an aspect that has lowered productivity and increased violence in society. Racism is perceived to have a stifling effect on our growth as it clouds our vision and interferes with our perception. The books defend multiculturalism as it advises on how to ensure the dialogue is productive.