Part Five and Epilogue: Final Thoughts

Source: Ukoha

Hello everybody! Welcome to my last blog post on the analysis of Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? By Beverly Daniel Tatum. Here I will respond to the book as a whole, as well as the issues it has raised. Along with that, I will raise a theoretical question and then respond to it in a philosophical. I will be combining the last part of the book along with the epilogue, for both of these section are relatively short and brief. I hope you enjoy reading my blog, and I am interested in hearing your opinions and answers for the philosophical question!

↣   PART FIVE: BREAKING THE SILENCE & EPILOGUE ↢

For the majority of the book, Tatum provides her argument as to why certain things happen regarding race and prejudice. In this section Tatum then switches to the "So what?" section; a conclusion including a plan of action for initiating change.This raises a particular question that I will be asking and answering, "If prejudice and racism is occurring, why has it not been solved yet?"

As learned from the book, it will take a great period of time for racism to truly go away. In fact, there will never be a time that people will be blind to the fact that other people have different skin colors, for it is simply an attribute, similar to eye or hair color. With that being said, it is impossible to remove race from identity, however, it is not impossible to destroy the stigma around the different races.

The Civil Rights era was a turning point for America, a time where inequality was acknowledged and fought against. Reflecting back on that time period, it is easy to believe that racism is dying when comparing it to today. Legally in the United States we all have our own equal rights, and public racism has died down, so it is easy to believe that it is no longer a part in our society. But is racism dying? To explain this, I'll  answer this in a metaphor: racism is like a living and breathing creature, for it evolves to be able to adapt and survive.

Just because the fact that lynchings and segregation is not at all common anymore in the United States does not mean that racism is dead. It has evolved to become hidden from the public eye, for as a White person if it never was mentioned to me, I probably would never have realized that I had a racial advantage. In that sense, it is easy to be able to falsely deny yourself as a racist.

Racism has not died yet, mainly because people try to deny the fact that it exists, and convince themselves that they are "color-blind" in order to supposedly help the cause or make themselves feel better, whichever is more convenient for them.

In Tatum's conclusion, denial is the complete opposite of a way of removing racism from our society and ourselves. Even if you know that racism effects you, being silent is not at all a decent way for helping racism to end. With personal experience of this, Tatum explains that:

"As a person of color, to remain silent and deny my experience with racism may be an important coping strategy in some contexts, but it may also lead to the self-blame and self-doubt of internalized oppression" (338).

Racism is the "elephant in the room", so to speak. Pretending that it is not there will not do anything to end it. This is one of the large issues that Tatum raises in her book, for she frequently mentions the obliviousness of her students and how they overcame that to become more educated on the matters and issues of racism. 

While racism has not yet become obsolete, Tatum offers in her conclusion many different ways that we can work together to fight it, even if you are White. First and foremost, starting a conversation with your friends and family can create a domino effect for positive change. If you hear a racist joke or comment, do not ignore it like most of us do. Express your experiences with racism and acknowledge the fact that it effects you. Action is the true way to defeat racism. Tatum explains this through a metaphor:

I believe deeply that the winter of the political climate of 2017- the time at which I am writing this epilogue- can give way to spring, but it is the collective actions of people committed to social justice that will bring about the thaw" (344). 

Tatum ends her book with on a more positive note in the sense that she believes that we have the capability to end social injustice. 

Overall, while I disagreed with minor aspects of the book, her epilogue and final section offered a more human aspect to the author. Because racism is regarded as a very heavy topic, it was highly enjoyable to read this ending with an optimistic attitude; for even though we as humans are flawed, there is still potential to do right. Tatum did bring up points and questions throughout her book that I would never have thought of to ask in the first place, so in that aspect, I am glad I read the book. 

Thank you for tuning in to my last blog post! See you next time ☺
-Lily O

Citations:
Tatum, Beverly Daniel. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the
      Cafeteria? New York, Basic Books, 1997.
Ukoha, Ezinne. “Dear White People, Blacks Can't Be Racist. .” Medium, Medium, 22 Jan. 2016, 
          medium.com/@nilegirl/dear-white-people-blacks-can-t-be-racists-and-you-saying-so-proves-
          your-logic-of-racism-3ee59d13ab8d.