Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

April 25, 2019 5:05 PM - by Beverly Daniel Tatum

The classic, bestselling book on the psychology of racism -- now fully revised and updated Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides....
posted by aniola (2 comments total)

Great book, easier read on this topic than some. Thanks for reminding me!
posted by eustatic at 3:51 PM on April 27, 2019

Taking the title literally, I asked my kids if the black students all sit together in the cafeterias of their schools. One said no, the other said he didn't think so (he doesn't eat in the cafeteria, usually). It was certainly true at my suburban Boston school several decades ago.

I loved this book.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:53 PM on December 10, 2019