PLT's AP Lang Blog

Hello readers, and welcome back to PLT's AP Lang Blog! As you know, here I discuss various subjects relating to Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD.'s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? In this post, I will be talking about Tatum's stylistic choices and how they get her argument, or what I think is her purpose in writing this book, across to the reader. I've already mentioned some of the arguments Tatum makes and what my thoughts are about them, but I haven't really addressed what I think the purpose of the book is. Well...I'm not sure, to be honest. I mean, I've got some ideas, but I don't know exactly. She writes about such a huge array of things in her book, so I don't think I can pin down a real purpose other than one really generalized one: to educate the masses about what race and racism are. This serves many different smaller purposes, depending on who the reader is. For example, for a White person like myself, it gives a ...

Hello readers, and welcome back to my AP Language blog where I discuss Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD.'s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?  This time, I'll be talking about Part III of the book, and how some of what she writes relates to more current events. First, though, I'd like to start by addressing some things I said in "Part II". I wrote in that post mostly about the things of that section that I didn't agree with, and poked holes in what Tatum was trying to say. However, having had time to think about it more, and having reread my own post, I'd like to change my opinion a little. While I still don't necessarily agree about the degree to which children are concerned about race, and while I still think that most kids don't care, I admit that I was thinking from my White perspective, not Tatum's Black one. To clarify, she is Black, and therefore grew up a Black child, whereas I grew up a White child, and we obvious...

Hello readers, and welcome back to my blog about Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD.'s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?  I've just finished reading Part II of the book, and I have to say that my opinions about the author have changed a little bit. While I understand that she is a psychologist and is knowledgeable about what she's saying, I also think that she may be trying to push a little bit too far into the developmental aspect of psychology. I definitely agree with her about how much of an issue it is that children aren't always educated properly regarding race and racism, but I don't necessarily agree with an anecdote she puts in: I remember being about three years old when I had an argument with an African American playmate. He said I was 'black.' 'No I'm not,' I said, 'I'm tan.'...As a three-year-old child who knew her colors, I was prepared to stand my ground. As an adult looking back on this incident, ...

Hello readers, and welcome to my blog exploring the ideas and devices in Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?  by Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the author, here's a little bit of background: Mrs. Tatum is an American psychologist and educator whose main focus is racism, specifically the development of one's racial identity and the many factors included in it. She has conducted a lot of research for her books and teaches courses in various universities pertaining to the subject of race, and establishes ethos with her students, readers, and colleagues by adding early on that, This book is also informed by the years I spent as the president of Spelman College, where I had the opportunity to witness the transformational power of an affirming educational environment on the lives of generations of Black women. Because I am a Black woman, these conversations are often framed in the context of Black-White re...