"Part I"

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 relations. However, one of the lessons I have learned in the years that I have been teaching about racism is that racism is a live issue for other groups as well. (78).

Tatum establishes this ethos by telling the readers that she is a Black woman, therefore has firsthand contact and experience with racism, and also by acknowledging that racism is a problem for other groups. By doing this, she shows that she is not just talking about racism as it deals with Blacks and Whites, but includes everyone, which most people don't think about when they think of racism. To be honest, before beginning this book, when I thought "racism" I thought of the history of Whites oppressing Blacks with things like Slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and segregation. While I knew that racial prejudice was a problem for other groups, too, I never thought of that as being part of the larger issue of "racism".  

After finishing Part I of the book, I've realized just how ignorant some of my opinions and ideas about the concept of "racism" were. Tatum refers to a definition of "racism" as used by David Wellman in his book Portraits of White Racism in contrast to how it is commonly used interchangeably with "prejudice" in society. Wellman's definition of racism is "a system of advantages based on race" (87). Tatum defines prejudice as "a preconceived judgment or opinion, usually based on limited information" (85). These definitions made me think hard about my prejudices, and how racism is a part of my daily life, being a white person and having certain advantages. This was difficult at first, until reading an easier explanation Tatum gives about prejudice:

Prejudice is one of the inescapable consequences of living in a racist society. Cultural racism-the cultural images and messages that affirm the assumed superiority of Whites and the assumed inferiority of people of color-is like smog in the air. Sometimes it is so thick it is visible, other times it is less apparent, but always, day in and day out, we are breathing it in. None of us would introduce ourselves as "smog breathers" (and most of us don't want to be described as prejudiced), but if we live in a smoggy place, how can we avoid breathing the air? (86). 

I thought that this explanation made the concept much easier to digest, and therefore easier to ponder. The metaphor of prejudice being smog made it easier to visualize the issue, and relate it to things I already know. So, while nobody wants to admit that they are prejudiced, all of us are, being exposed to various examples of cultural racism in our media. In a world with as much advanced technology as we have, it's hard to limit your exposure to cultural racism while having as much access as we do to literally everything. I think it's important to recognize the influences in our culture on racial prejudice, and even more important to be above them as best as we can and form our own opinions reasonably. Part I of Tatum's book, combined with Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, have made clear to me the "system of advantages" and just how much they affect each person individually. No matter who you are, you're always going to be affected by some variation of a "system of advantages": if you are white, but a girl, you won't experience racism, but rather sexism; white and male, but old, you will experience ageism; and so on. Tatum putting it into context like this really helped me to see Wellman's definition of "racism" more clearly, compared to other systems of advantages. 

I think my main takeaway from Part I is the smog idea, that really stuck with me. It's becoming more and more important to me, the more I think about it, to really monitor the amount of smog I breathe in and the amount I give back out (even without meaning to). 

Thank you for reading (and following my somewhat confusing train of thoughts-I'll figure out this blog thing as we progress)!