Beverly Daniel Tatum: Why Are All of the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

“An unusually sensitive work about the racial barriers that still divide us in so many areas of life.” — Jonathan Kozol

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is self-segregation a coping strategy or a problem? Twenty years ago, in Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, brought a complicated argument to the table: an appreciation of racial identity formation as essential to any potential communication across racial and ethnic differences. With a completely revised edition, Tatum joins us to discuss why we're apart when we're together. This program is generously underwritten by Ellen Stone Belic and features an artist, writer, or other creative authority reflecting on her extraordinary career.

This program is presented in partnership with Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture at the University of Chicago.