WHY ARE ALL THE BLACK KIDS SITTING TOGETHER IN THE CAFETERIA?

by Beverly Daniel Tatum

I guess this is my month to review books published when I was too young to read them. Tatum’s classic study of the development of racial identity during adolescence was first published in 1997, although she updated it and added a 75-page introduction in 2017 to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Celebrate might be the wrong word however since the intro takes the reader through the racial injustices of the last 20 years. And although she addresses the beginning of the BLM movement and Donald Trump’s election, Tatum finishes her update before last summer’s conversations about racism and anti-racism exploded across the United States.

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Togetherdeals with identity building which she approaches as a psychologist, a sociologist and an educator. From my anti-racist reading, I have learned that we absorb racism through our culture from a very early age. Even if we do not consciously feel or act in a racist way, racism acts through us in how we navigate through our lives. Tatum illuminates how those changes occur, both in white people and people of color, from pre-school aged children onward.

Although not a practical handbook, as I finished reading, I reflected on how I might be more aware and supportive of the identity-building taking place in the teens I work with in theater. Theater is all about identity and race needs to be part of the conversation. If you haven’t read Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together yet, especially if you work with or have kids, please give it a read. (Lily)