48 pages • 1 hour read
Beverly Daniel TatumWhy Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
White as “Normal,” Color as “Other”
People of color receive messages throughout their lives that they are different, that they are worth less, that they are abnormal, that they don’t belong. Asian Pacific Americans are assumed to be foreign, even when they were born in the US. Black Americans receive messages at school that they are less intelligent and capable of achieving less. Latinxs are treated as outsiders for speaking Spanish, Muslims are rejected for believing in a “violent” and “hateful” religion, and Native people are reduced to caricatures in the media. Parents of White children can easily find countless children’s books with White characters, while Tatum had to actively search for books and toys that reflected her sons’ appearances. In recent years, Trump’s polarizing discourse has only served to further emphasize that people of color are “them” and not “us.” As a result of all these messages, young people of color become increasingly aware as they grow up that their race or ethnicity marks them as an “other.”
One result of otherness is increased visibility. As they go about their lives, people of color are continuously seen as members of their group, whereas White people are accustomed to being seen simply as individuals. White people therefore take notice if a group of Black people are sitting together in the cafeteria, but not if a group of White people are sitting together. This constant feeling of otherness can be immensely stressful but having a group of peers from the same racial or ethnic group can help a person to feel less isolated.
Sometimes, however, people of color feel like outsiders both among White people and among people from the same racial or ethnic group. Latinxs who aren’t proficient in Spanish may find themselves rejected by other White people for being Latinx, but also rejected by other Spanish-speaking Latinxs. Asian Pacific Americans who don’t meet high standards of academic achievement may feel like they don’t belong among their group because they feel like “failures.” Children of color who are adopted into White families may be treated as an “other” by their White peers, but may grow up to feel like they don’t belong among their racial or ethnic group either because of their lack of linguistic or cultural knowledge.
White people, on the other hand, often just think of themselves as “normal”—a problematic belief, since it implies that anyone who isn’t White is “abnormal.” They may believe that they treat all people equally without regard for their race, but nevertheless send othering messages without realizing it. People of color may try to fit in with White people by trying to become “raceless”—by de-emphasizing their Blackness, by abandoning their Spanish, by denying their religion—but this often leaves a person uncomfortable because they are denying a part of who they are. Ultimately, being treated as others is what causes people of color to develop their group identity. Although the dominant culture devalues them, people of color can reject the negative messages and embrace a positive redefinition of who they are.
White Ignorance
Many White Americans are ignorant about a lot of things when it comes to race and racism. The majority of White people have entirely White social circles, so they are ignorant about what it is like to be a person of color. The media portrays people of color as one-dimensional stereotypes and they probably didn’t learn much about people of color at school either, so they are ignorant about their histories, cultures, and diversity. They were raised to be “color-blind,” to believe that talking about race or racism is impolite—or even racist—and so they stay silent about it. In this silence, they believe that racism is a problem of the past and not of the present.
White ignorance is harmful for people of color. Because White people remain ignorant of institutional and cultural racism, they maintain these discriminatory systems. They may perpetuate painful stereotypes and misinformation in their daily conversations, and their implicit biases may reveal themselves in their actions even while they believe they are completely without prejudice. The problem is not that there is a lack of evidence available about racism, but that their mindset encourages them to ignore it or explain it away—and this can include failing to listen when a person of color speaks up about racism. Staying ignorant is a way to maintain their psychological comfort.
While the harm is greater for people of color, White people themselves are also harmed by their own ignorance. They are likely to feel uncomfortable in their interactions with people of color. They may feel hurt that they are not able to connect or form friendships with them, and they may not even understand why, since they are ignorant of their own ignorance as well. When racism is so pervasive in American society, it takes an active effort to not notice it, and Tatum claims this continuous effort to avoid acknowledging racism can leave White people ignorant about themselves:
But in not noticing, one loses opportunities for greater insight into oneself and one’s experience. A significant dimension of who one is in the world, one’s Whiteness, remains uninvestigated and perceptions of daily experience are routinely distorted. Privilege goes unnoticed, and all but the most blatant acts of racial bigotry are ignored. Not noticing requires energy. (338)
White identity development involves overcoming this ignorance. They begin to recognize the presence of racism, they reeducate themselves about the stereotypes they internalized and the things they never learned, and they learn how to listen. Part of this process involves overcoming their fear of speaking up, since they are often afraid of revealing their own ignorance. Confronting one’s own ignorance can be frightening, but it can make them effective allies who can engage in cross-racial dialogues with mutual respect.
The Necessity of Dialogue and the Cost of Silence
We are a “color-silent” society, according to Tatum. We see race and it affects our daily lives, but many Americans avoid talking about it or thinking about it. Many are silent about racism because they believe it is only a problem when it is talked about out loud. Fear is also a silencing force, with many White people staying silent because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing, while people of color may stay silent because they’re afraid their words will be ignored. Parents may silence their children when they ask questions about race, or avoid talking to them about racism out of fear that they will introduce problems where there were none before. Children may grow up learning to stay silent about racism themselves, and thus the silence is passed down from one generation to the next.
Silence comes with some heavy costs. Children of color may be unprepared to handle their encounters with racism, and they may internalize the negative messages about their own group if no one provides them with positive messages. White people’s silence allows for them to continue to not notice institutional and cultural racism, even while Black people are dying at the hands of police officers before their eyes. Staying passively silent means that the actively hateful are permitted to voice their hate, as was described in the words of one White university student following a racist incident on his campus:
I feel that silence in response to these comments camouflages the genuinely hateful and empowers them in the development of their beliefs. […] Our silence fosters hate. Our silence enables the hateful to feel comfortable and welcome. (344)
As difficult and frightening as it may be to talk about racism, it is imperative that we do so. We each have a sphere of influence in which we can break the silence. Parents need to answer their children’s questions, teach them about oppression and how to resist it, and provide them with affirmative messages about their own group. We need dialogues within our own racial or ethnic groups to emotionally support each other and help each other to find a positive identity. We need dialogues across our different groups to foster empathy and mutual respect. We need to speak out against racism publicly and frequently. Words alone may not be enough, but they can achieve a lot.
