Tatum, Beverly Daniel - Can We Talk about Race?
Sun, Jun. 24th, 2007 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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):
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:
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minnow1212's review
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
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 25th, 2007 09:29 pm (UTC)Oh man, the fatigue. My personal version of the SGA debacle was the Great Cultural Appropriation Debate of DOOM and PotC2, as I didn't know as many people in SGA. But yes to the need to re-evaluate, and I found myself losing a lot of respect for people I had previously liked a lot, which was sad.
I'm really glad that so far this year, the discussion on my LJ has been a lot less insane than it was last year, but I'm sure part of that is just that most of the people commenting are fairly familiar with me and because I haven't been metafandomed yet.
But yeah. Even when the discussions aren't happening on my LJ, it's just so tiring and disheartening to see the same old straw man arguments over and over and over.
(no subject)
Tue, Jun. 26th, 2007 04:06 pm (UTC)Have you thought about (or have you, and I just don't know about it) putting together a sort of FAQ-and-reference-list? Because I totally get the sense of fatigue and just not wanting to talk about it any further, etc., and at the same time, I think, "But I want to be taught! And it would help to know where to start!"
Of course, you're not responsible for doing the teaching, and I don't mean to imply that you are. Just wondering if something like that might be a useful medium?
(no subject)
Tue, Jun. 26th, 2007 09:47 pm (UTC)Right now I am wishing that something like the Feminism 101 blog will magically appear for anti-racism to consolidate links and be a handy reference place, but so far it has not, and I have yet to embark on something that ambitious (maybe someday when I don't have job + class going on)...