Question

What is Beverly Tatum is saying about the different ways black and white people in North America see themselves? Make use of the terms "subordinate", "dominant" and "privilege" in your answer.

Answer 1

In 1997, Tatum published Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? , an exploration of the psychology of racial and ethnic identity, which garnered a great deal of attention. In one of the conversations when she became administrator  of Spelman College she says "If you grow up black in the United States, particularly as a young black woman, there are very few places where you can say,   'This place was built for me.' But that is what you can say when you come to Spelman," Tatum says.

North America is still struggling through the racial crisis. Blacks are still considered subordinates and whites are dominant or privileged class. Though the government has enforced laws for no racial discrimination. Still, racial discrimination persists there. Most white students cannot identify them with the blacks around them. They often end up saying "Well, you don't get it, so I'll find somebody who does." Even in racially mixed schools, it is very common for young people of colour, particularly black and Latino students, to find that the upper-level courses have very few students of colour in them. Many white educators have grown up in predominantly white communities, attended mostly white schools, and may have had limited experiences with people of color, and that is a potential barrier. But what that means is that people need to expand their experiences.