Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeterum Summary

People of different ethnic backgrounds are influenced by both cultural and societal normalities to want to naturally return to their own ethnic groups. In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum tries to explain why in even racially diverse schools, people of the same race tend to gravitate toward one another causing racial separation. Tatum claims that people of the same race, particularly black kids, are likely to turn toward people who understand their shared perspective. Although Tatum effectively uses a conversational tone and emotionally charged words, her overuse of biased interviews and experiences forces the reader to question the validity of her portrayal of race relations. In

She begins her book by giving a scenario of a high school cafeteria in which there is and “identifiable group of Black students sitting together” (para. 1) this scenario is a situation that is witnessed in almost every cafeteria of racially diverse schools across the country. Tatum’s use of the word “we” introduces a conversational and personable tone; this allows the reader to feel more involved in her writing. In addition to Tatum’s tone, she also uses emotionally charged words and repetition to also add to the effectiveness of her book. For example, her use of the words “stereotype” and “segregation”, which both have negative connotations, force the reader to think about the depth of the

Tatum examines what “Blackness,” means in a predominately white society and explores reasons why black adolescents begin to believe that they are inferior or in other words “not normal” in society, especially in academics where some black adolescents claim that “doing well in school is often identified as being White” (para. 30) which leads them to not give their education their maximum effort in the fear of being labeled as “too white” or simply just “not black”. She uses her son’s personal experiences as well as typical stories of how blacks are misunderstood in order to educate the reader as to how black people eventually develop a self-identity based on the implications of society and the situations that surround them. This can be seen when she says, “The stereotypes, omissions, and distortions that reinforce notions of White superiority are breathed in by Black children as well as white” (para. 10). In this quote Tatum further examines what “Whiteness” means in the same context and explains that since American society associates White people to be the normality, they are not able to create a well-balanced self-identity without it being based off of racial