The essay “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” is taken from a book by psychologist and author Beverly Daniel Tatum. Tatum focuses on the question, “Do the experiences with racism inevitably result in so-called self-segregation?” (Silverman). Tatum gives examples from her observations, experiences and perspective as a black woman and mother. Beginning with racially mixed grade schools, Tatum points to how the children experiance no racial barriers, as they sit together socializing. As the children reach sixth or seventh grade (around puberty) according to Tatum, racial grouping begins, as the children begin to delve into questions about their own identity, and blacks specifically think in terms of race. After