Since the legal ending of segregation, many attempts have been made to make sure that each person is treated as an equal and the United States operates as a “color-blind” community. However, this may not be the best way to function and progress as a society. Throughout an excerpt from her book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, author Beverly Daniel Tatum uses the examples of forming a black identity, acknowledging the personal impacts of racism, and finally the social impact of racial encounters to show the strength behind racial identity in order to convey that finding camaraderie in shared experiences is not something to discourage. Beverly Daniel Tatum uses the formation of identity by black adolescents in a
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In using the example of a girl who experiences racial stereotyping by her teacher who then turns to one of her white friends who justifies the casual racism, Tatum explains that while the girl’s white friend may not have understood the effects of the encounter, the “girls at the ‘black table’” can offer a sense of empathy (2077). This is the key component of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria. Through all of the racial encounters mentioned, this is the direct societal impact. The girl turns to the “black table” not because she feels unwelcome anywhere else, but because that table can offer a sense of identity that she can not get elsewhere. The black table is bound by a sense of identity and struggle that is unique to their experiences, and through that camaraderie they find a validation in their struggle. The table is not to further discriminate or to show that segregation is becoming relevant again today, but rather to show that operating under a society that doesn’t see color is negating the experiences of these black adolescents. Tatum ends the excerpt saying that these adolescents are operating on a “very limited definition” of their racial identity, and this “limited definition” is largely based on a white perception of black identity (2077). Again, the association with like people is not showing that the black adolescents are inferior to their peers, but rather a rebellion against that white perception of black identity. Choosing to engage in their black peers allows for one to redefine their culture on their own terms rather than operating simply on stereotypes. These actions are not pushing society back into racial division, instead these actions are proof that racial division never fully left. Through the misunderstanding of casual racism and black identity through white peers, black adolescents are driven to stay within their own
In using the example of a girl who experiences racial stereotyping by her teacher who then turns to one of her white friends who justifies the casual racism, Tatum explains that while the girl’s white friend may not have understood the effects of the encounter, the “girls at the ‘black table’” can offer a sense of empathy (2077). This is the key component of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria. Through all of the racial encounters mentioned, this is the direct societal impact. The girl turns to the “black table” not because she feels unwelcome anywhere else, but because that table can offer a sense of identity that she can not get elsewhere. The black table is bound by a sense of identity and struggle that is unique to their experiences, and through that camaraderie they find a validation in their struggle. The table is not to further discriminate or to show that segregation is becoming relevant again today, but rather to show that operating under a society that doesn’t see color is negating the experiences of these black adolescents. Tatum ends the excerpt saying that these adolescents are operating on a “very limited definition” of their racial identity, and this “limited definition” is largely based on a white perception of black identity (2077). Again, the association with like people is not showing that the black adolescents are inferior to their peers, but rather a rebellion against that white perception of black identity. Choosing to engage in their black peers allows for one to redefine their culture on their own terms rather than operating simply on stereotypes. These actions are not pushing society back into racial division, instead these actions are proof that racial division never fully left. Through the misunderstanding of casual racism and black identity through white peers, black adolescents are driven to stay within their own