Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting
Together in the Cafeteria:
And Other Conversations About Race
294 pages Publisher: Basic
Books; Revised edition (January 17, 2003) $16.95
Walk into any racially mixed high school
and you will see black youth seated together in the cafeteria. Of course, it's
not just the black kids sitting together-the white, Latino, Asian Pacific, and,
in some regions, American Indian youth are clustered in their own groups, too.
The same phenomenon can be observed in college dining halls, faculty lounges,
and corporate cafeterias. What is going on here? Is this self-segregation a
problem we should try to fix, or a coping strategy we should support? How can
we get past our reluctance to talk about racial issues to even discuss it? And
what about all the other questions we and our children have about race? Beverly
Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, asserts that we
do not know how to talk about our racial differences: Whites are afraid of
using the wrong words and being perceived as "racist" while parents
of color are afraid of exposing their children to painful racial realities too
soon. Using real-life examples and the latest research, Tatum presents strong
evidence that straight talk about our racial identities-whatever they may be-is
essential if we are serious about facilitating communication across racial and
ethnic divides. We have waited far too long to begin our conversations about
race. This remarkable book, infused with great wisdom and humanity, has already
helped hundreds of thousands of readers figure out where to start.
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