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This 4 page paper summarized two chapters of Beverly Tatum’s book, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Bibliography lists 1 source.
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4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVBTatum.rtf
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with surprisingly little bitterness - about the black experience in America. This paper briefly summarizes two chapters from the book. Discussion Tatum begins her book with the observation that we
are all prejudiced, even those people who insist they are not. We cant help it; we are inundated with messages that lead us to "classify" other people, often according to
race. Tatum points out that sometimes what is not said is just as important as what is: she recalls a student who didnt know there were any black writers because
hed never studied any (Tatum, 1997). Our task, Tatum believes, is to find a way to reach over and beyond the barriers of race that divide us, and to find
our common humanity. In Chapter 5, she discuses her own experience in developing what she calls "racial identity"; that is, a sense of herself as an African-American in American society.
In her high school, there were few black students, so she didnt have a chance to become part of a larger black "community" that would allow her to develop a
black identity. Tatum seems to be saying that in order to have the opportunity to fully understand the black experience in America, and to become part of black culture, she
had to be able to get away from the dominant white culture entirely. This wasnt possible in a small town, but when she went to college, at Wesleyan University in
Middletown, Connecticut, she found a "critical mass" of African American and Latino students (Tatum, 1997, p.75). There were enough black students for her to "immerse" herself entirely in their
society, and build her identity as an African-American woman (Tatum, 1997). The experience was one of the happiest of her life: "I look back on my days at Wesleyan with
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