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.
Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Understanding Whiteness in a White Context”
Chapter 6 Summary: “The Development of White Identity”
Many White people grow up without thinking or talking much about their own race. As one White author explains, she used to think of people of color as the “real races,” while she thought of Whiteness as “plain, normal, the [race] against which all others were measured” (186). This initial stage is known as the contact frame of mind within psychologist Janet Helms’ model of White identity development. At this stage, White people are unlikely to have recognized the existence of White privilege or systemic racism, and they often see themselves as free of prejudice. Some may go their entire lives without ever exploring what it means to be White.
The disintegration frame of mind emerges if a White person experiences something that triggers a growing awareness of racism. One White student saw how her Puerto Rican roommate was followed around in stores. For another White woman, watching the video of Philando Castile being killed by a police officer forced her to confront the reality of racism. This new awareness of the pervasiveness of racism tends to lead to uncomfortable feelings of guilt and anger. Their discomfort may cause some people to withdraw—effectively closing their eyes and ears to racism in order to make their discomfort go away—or it could inspire them to take action. They may fervently try to educate their friends and family, only to end up feeling alienated when those around them show little desire to change. To relieve their discomfort, some White people may become angry and blame people of color for the existence of racism, a frame of mind called reintegration. If people of color did something to cause racism, then the White person no longer feels responsible for doing anything about it.
White people may resist being seen as a member of a group, rather than as an individual. The notion that they have systematic advantages due to their race can be difficult to accept when a person believes that they have worked hard to earn things in life, or when they experience a different form of oppression because they are poor, or Jewish, or LGBTQ. As their awareness of systemic racism deepens, they may reach a pseudo-independent mindset—they are committed to unlearning racism, but they don’t know what to do about it. They feel guilty about being White and may try to escape their Whiteness by associating with people of color.
The immersion/emersion status is marked by a positive sense of White identity. When a White person redefines Whiteness in a way that “take[s] them beyond the role of victimizer” (201), they can overcome the shame they feel about their race. It is important for them to have antiracist White role models who can serve as a guide—who can show White people that they are not alone, and that they too can make a difference. Tatum provides examples such as Morris Dees, Mab Segrest, and Virginia Foster Durr. There are numerous White individuals who have stood up to racism, yet their stories are rarely taught in school. White people can also join all-White antiracist support groups in which they can make mistakes and work through their feelings of guilt in the company of supportive same-race peers. The final status, autonomy, is achieved when a White person has internalized their redefinition of Whiteness and feels equipped to oppose racism in their daily life.
Chapter 7 Summary: “White Identity, Affirmative Action, and Color-Blind Racial Ideology”
Many White people are resistant to affirmative action programs, believing that they are no longer necessary. They think that people of color no longer face significant barriers, and instead they fear that they themselves are being discriminated against for being White. Statistics show that racial inequality is still very much a problem for people of color, given that there are significant disparities in housing, education, employment, the justice system, healthcare, and other areas. Yet for working-class White Americans in particular, there is the perception that Black people, women, immigrants, and others are “cutting in line” while their own economic situation worsens.
There are a number of misunderstandings about what affirmative action programs are and how they work. They are not quotas, Tatum emphasizes, which in most cases are illegal. Some universities and employers use process-oriented programs, which attempt to make a fair application process. The idea is that if the process is unbiased, then all applicants will be treated fairly. Unfortunately, this often does not work well in practice. Numerous studies have shown that Black and Latinx job applicants receive fewer callbacks from employers than equally qualified White applicants.
Often the problem lies in what psychologists Samuel Gaertner and John Dovidio call “aversive racism.” Many White Americans see themselves as racially tolerant and they do not discriminate against anyone in situations where they know what kind of behavior is expected. But in situations that are more ambiguous, their prejudice can emerge. Gaertner and Dovidio showed this in several studies in which they asked White participants to make hiring decisions about Black and White applicants. When one candidate was clearly more qualified, their decisions showed no racial bias. When the choice was less clear, however, they were much more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to White rather than Black candidates. Even though these biases are unconscious and unintentional, the result is nevertheless discriminatory behavior.
A closely related concept is what sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva calls “color-blind racism,” in which White people minimize the existence of racial inequality. They may believe that inequalities are due to other factors (such as believing that Black culture is to blame for any hardships that Black people experience), and they tend to be reluctant to talk about race (assuming that if it isn’t brought up, then it isn’t an issue). Color blindness thus stifles conversations about racial issues and allows the status quo to continue, because “you can’t fix what you can’t talk about” (228).
Process-oriented affirmative action programs are well intentioned, but they are unlikely to actually give every candidate a fair shot. Goal-oriented programs take a different approach by instead setting diversity goals. Qualified candidates who can help the organization meet those goals are favored in some cases, although White people are still selected sometimes as well. An employer can also establish selection criteria that people of color are more likely to meet, such as experience working in multiracial and multicultural settings. Tatum argues that diversity should be a priority for organizations, not least of all because the organizations themselves benefit from being diverse.
Part 3 Analysis
These two chapters explore some of the mindsets held by White Americans, many of which contribute to the maintenance of racism. They may have difficulty accepting the existence of White privilege because it seems to deny that they worked hard for what they have. Working-class White people in particular may have a hard time seeing how they are privileged because they are at the same time disadvantaged due to their socioeconomic status. They may resent that people of color benefit from affirmative action programs while they themselves struggle financially. Many White Americans would emphatically reject any suggestion that they are prejudiced, yet their prejudices emerge without them being aware that they are discriminating against anyone. Even if a White person recognizes the existence of racial inequality, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will become antiracist. Due to the narrative of equal opportunity that they have internalized, they may believe that people of color are at fault for their disadvantages. Many of these mindsets either render systemic racism invisible to White people, or they allow it to be explained away. In either case, the status quo is maintained.
If a White person does challenge the status quo, they will likely find themselves struggling with feelings of guilt and isolation. In Chapter 6, Tatum provides a number of excerpts from narratives written by White people, many of them her own students. These excerpts provide an intimate look into the discomfort they feel with being White, the pain of feeling alienated from their own families, and the empowerment they find when they are able to redefine their Whiteness in a positive way.
While the challenge for Black Americans is to resist the negative messages about their group, the challenge for White Americans is to unlearn racism and resist the social pressure to simply ignore it. Both share a goal in common, however: to develop a positive racial identity. For both Black and White people, having same-race role models can aid them in this endeavor. Having academically successful Black role models can help young Black people expand their definition of Blackness beyond mere stereotypes. White people also benefit from having antiracist White role models who can help them to think of their racial group not just as oppressors, but as people who resist oppression. Black people benefit from having a same-race peer group who they can go to for support, and White people can also benefit from having antiracist White peers who can help them to feel less alone. For both Black and White people, attaining a positive racial identity can make them more effective at cross-racial dialogue. While the challenges they face may be different, there are a number of parallels between Black and White identity development.
