Tatum’s Summary
In her book, “Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?’’ And other Conversations about Race, Beverly Tatum asserts that the response to the question of who a person is relies on the views that the world around an individual holds of him or her (19). The people around a person could be his or her parents, friends, neighbors, and educators. Just as researchers and scientists affirm, other people act as the mirror through which one sees himself or herself (Ramiah et al. 102). Though there could be numerous approaches in which a person could be described as outstanding, there are also groups of “otherness” usually experienced in the American society. Individuals are normally regarded as other anchored in ethnic background, sexual orientation, sex, socioeconomic position, age, physical capability, and mental status. The theme of identity is an intricate one, influenced by a person’s attributes, family values, historical aspects, and political and social circumstances. “Dominant groups, by definition, set the parameters within which the subordinates operate (Tatum 23)”. Every one of the existing groups has a kind of oppression linked to it, for instance, racial discrimination, religious oppression, and ageism to mention a few.
Attributable to the risks found in unequal correlations, the subordinates usually build up clandestine means of counteracting or opposing the authority of the dominant group (Tatum 25). In every instance, there is a category deemed dominant (consistently benefited by the community owing to group association), and another believed to be subordinate or targeted (constantly disfavored). If people mull over their various identities, the majority of them will establish that they are both subordinate and dominant simultaneously. Nevertheless, the subordinate identities have a tendency of grasping people’s attention while the dominant ones frequently go unnoticed (Bradley 15). People’s continued assessment of who they are in their full human race, embracing their uniqueness, generates the capacity of developing alliances that could eventually liberate them all.
Works Cited
Bradley, Harriet. Fractured Identities: Changing Patterns of Inequality. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Ramiah, Ananthi Al, et al. “Why are all the White (Asian) Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Resegregation and the Role of Intergroup Attributions and Norms.” British Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 54, no. 1, 2015, pp. 100-124.
Tatum, Beverly. “Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?’’ And other Conversations about Race. Basic Books, 1997.