Tatum, Beverly Daniel - Can We Talk about Race?

[oyceter]

(subtitle: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation)

Tatum's newest book is based off a series of talks she gave for "Race, Education, and Democracy," a program of lectures and books driven by Beacon Press and Simmons College. As such, the book is shorter than her Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together?.

As the title notes, the book is largely about race and the US education system. Tatum is particularly concerned with the resegregation of schools because of several rulings weakening Brown vs. Board, the continuing segregation of neighborhoods, and other such factors. This is less Racism 101, unlike her previous book, and more focused; I enjoyed being able to get a closer look at a specific racially-related problem.

I like how Tatum focuses both on what individuals (white and POC) can do to combat racism in schools and on how to implement systemic change; both are important. She writes about the importance of acceptance for kids of color; not just "Oh, we are color blind!," but the need for people to see themselves positively represented in the curriculum and in the power structure of schools. She talks about the class divide that often goes with the racial divide and strategies for lessening the achievement gap between white students and students of color, and she also addresses the need for affirmative action and the importance of diversity.

Much of the book feels like it's about K-12 education, though Tatum addresses higher education as well, particularly the battle to keep affirmative action. But the section that I found most relevant on a personal level was her chapter on interracial relationships.

She quotes David Mura's essay "Secret Colors" in Some of My Best Friends: Writings on Interracial Friendships (ed. Emily Bernard):

Yes interracial friendships with whites are possible. Certainly they are possible if the person of color thinks of himself as white or desires to be thought of as white -- that is, if the person of color forces from his consciousness the differences in his experience of race [...]. Such friendships are also possible if race is never discussed as part of the relationship [...]. In such instances, the person of color might be aware of differences and difficulties due to racial issues, but remains silent about them. Instead, the person of color suppresses his true feelings and presents a version of himself he thinks will please, or at least not trouble, his white friend.

Under such conditions, friendship is possible: but we might ask then: What kind of friendship is that?

I winced, recognizing quite a few interracial friendships I had with whites. (Also, I need to pick up that book.) I think the issues of race and education will be very relevant to me when I go back to school, but the issue of interracial friendships will always be there, unless I move back to Taiwan and quit LJ or something drastic like that.

Tatum talks in particular about lethal silence, when a POC is afraid to voice her thoughts on race and instead thinks "Note to self: do not talk to this person about anything I find important," and on the effort it takes to be honest about race. And in case it looks like the silence and the burden is on the POC, Tatum makes it very clear that deep friendships between POC and white people can only happen if the white person has done work thinking about her own whiteness and privilege. If not, the POC either must hide part of herself, reveal that part and be in constant conflict, or be an educator on racial issues, and in all cases, the relationship is then unequal. They can still be friends, but it will by necessity be in a more limited sense.

Anyhow, I highly recommend this, though people unfamiliar with Anti-Racism 101 may want to start with Tatum's other book first. Tatum is clear-sighted and sympathetic, but never underestimates the problems we all face. Reading her always makes me feel like things are difficult, but that there is hope and the potential for progress.

Links:
- minnow1212's review

Comments

[keilexandra]

Sounds interesting, but question: is Tatum for or against affirmative action? Your review can be interpreted eitehr way. I'm against affirmative action because it doesn't really balance race--it only tries to balance the black-white continuum and is unfair to other POC. I tend to avoid anti-racism books because I've had a lot of bad experiences with the author only thinking about the most obvious racial issue (i.e. African-Americans).

[oyceter]

She is for affirmative action, as am I. Her previous book has more on other races; here, she notes in the introduction that she focuses mostly on blacks and Hispanics because they are the ones most severely affected by these issues. In general, I think she does think about all races; her previous book has sections for most races as well as for multi-racial people.

I'm against affirmative action because it doesn't really balance race--it only tries to balance the black-white continuum and is unfair to other POC.

*nods* I agree that this often happens, though I tend to attribute this more to a faulty implementation of affirmative action rather than to affirmative action itself. I.e. there is effectively a "POC quota" within which POC must compete against each other, when in reality, the struggle should be against things like legacy admissions, which is effectively white affirmative action (because who in the past has generally had the money and the status to get into universities?).

And I don't know much, but just from casual reading, it feels like many court cases about affirmative action have continued to pit POC against each other (Asians against blacks and Hispanics, usually). I don't know if you've read it, but I think Frank Wu's Yellow has a really good chapter specifically on affirmative action and Asians.

Also, I agree with your criticism that a lot of anti-racism tends to focus on black-white relationships. On the one hand, I see why this is so, because blacks have historically been the most severely affected by racism. On the other hand, I think all allies are important and naturally want to see Asian and other issues addressed as well.

I've found that usually within the anti-racism blogosphere, people do realize that there are a lot of different fronts to fight racism; some people choose to concentrate on a specific front, but link back to others, or have other methods. And there's a whole bunch of women of color in feminist literature that I still have to read that acknowledges the nuances in anti-racism dialogue.

[keilexandra]

That's exactly the problem I have with affirmative action--especially in colleges, it tends to have the practical effect of shooing-in African-Americans and disqualifying many Asian people because they have to compete directly (and IMHO unfairly) against all the thousands of other Asian people. The various University of California campuses are a prime example--they eliminated affirmative action, and as CA tends to be very Asian-heavy in population, the result is a college comprised of a LOT of Asians. Bad or good? The balance is off, but in terms of POC vs. white, it's wonderful.

But I don't know much at all about anti-racism and still need to do tons more reading. Many thanks for the book rec!

[oyceter]

*nods* From the few anti-racism books I've read, most of the authors do talk about affirmative action, and usually in a way that is inclusive of all POC.

I am happy about the rise of the Asian population in the CA schools, but I think there's also been a drop in the black and Hispanic populations, which I find troublesome.