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Summary Of Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria

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Recommended: Middle adulthood psychological changes

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? The book became a classic in modern high school and college classroom settings. It is one of the most popular books that Beverly Daniel Tatum has written. In this case, the main point in the book is the development of racial identity as well as the challenges that one may face when attempting to hold a meaningful conversation regarding race. The author wants to engage the audience in an excellent conversation about race and she does this by allowing the time for the communication with the self. The examples deployed in this context are from her experiences as a professor at the college and as a parent. The author has an uncanny ability to highlight conversations with which she has …show more content…

As such, it should be noted that the author acknowledges that the discussion of racism is a complicated matter. In this context, the challenge originates from the definition of the identities that an individual may have and the point of intersection of each of these. Later sections of the book depict the development of the African-American race as well as European-Americans. It should be noted that Whites are from Europe while their Black counterparts have been in the United States because of slavery. The author seeks to respond to the question regarding the black kids that she states are all sitting together in the cafeteria. In a nutshell, when these persons enter early adulthood or late adolescence, it is worth pointing out that they get to recognize the effect of racism from the individual perspective. As such, these persons then develop identities in opposition to anything that is European-American. Case in point, this development is a social identity whose design is keeping the dominant group and protection of these young persons from any form of psychological assault that results from race and racism. Each human pass through this stage and this is especially true for young blacks because they undergo intensity in the emersion and immersion into their culture and history. All the children are sitting together because the emersion and immersion are in the context of their …show more content…

Case in point, they begin to contemplate what it really means to be black. On the other hand, young whites do not take the time to contemplate what it means to belong to their race. Most of the young whites believe that they are merely normal and not different from others in the society, which is critical for their development because they do not face any episode of racial prejudice. In this case, these individuals have no understanding or recognition of the systemic merits that their race has given them. Consequently, they believe that racism and race are in the domain of individual acts of extremism. The settings in the university setting may provide the opportunity for the transition of some whites into the stage in which they begin to acknowledge the privileges that come with being white. As such, it is one of the most difficult stages that these individuals face. In this case, they are supposed to see privileges and injustices and many of these have to think about what is better between attempting to unlearn racism and blaming victims of racism. It is imperative to note the fact that a conversation on the right action is in the context of racial identity from the white

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