Chapter five opens with Tatum discussing why she felt as though she needed to leave her hometown when she graduated high school and was going to college. She states "I did not sit at the Black table in the cafeteria because there were not enough Black kids... I knew enough about social isolation to know that I needed to get out of town." (165). This is an experience that a lot of kids who grow up in a small town can relate to. In the town of Hopkinton, there are only a handful of Black students and like Tatum, likely want to leave the primarily white town to feel like less of a minority and find people with whom they might share experiences. It can be beneficial to live in a small town, like Hopkinton, as is allows for students the opportunity to get more out of their education, but when there is a minority group, it feels even smaller, which is what Tatum is trying to get at when she mentions "social isolation." The mention of moving out of town to college leads to Tatum broadly saying "there is considerable evidence that Black students at historically Black colleges and universities higher... goals than their peers do at predominantly White institutions." (169). It is reasonable for her not to have written all of the evidence in this one paragraph of the book, but calling all the information that is supporting her argument "considerable evidence" makes the reader want to skip ahead to where she might mention statistics and less interested in what else she has to say. If a reader so chooses to skip over the little bit of commentary, they will find supporting evidence, but overall, Tatum uses too broad a statement to open her argument for it to be as effective as possible.
A more indirect idea of why colored students tend to spend time with one another is expressed when Tatum writes, "... students reported that they couldn't help but notice the pervasiveness of contemporary forms of racial stereotyping... For example, on White student reported that when she asked her roommate to get her a glass of water, the White roommate replied, 'Do I look Black to you'" (191). Those of color, especially Black people, don't want to be surrounded by people that are attempting to make harmless, but nonetheless racist, jokes. This rude remark made by the girl's roommate is unacceptable and should not be allowed by anyone. No one should be ok with hearing someone say this because it references an extremely complicated evil in American history that we have worked to try and fix for over a century. A Black person is not going to outright say something quite so offensive, and if they do, I feel that it's different (that doesn't mean it isn't still wrong). White people making these types of comments creates a (unintentionally) negative atmosphere that no one with slavery in their history needs to be around, nor should they have to be, which is why Black people will choose to surround themselves with people who understand what is wrong with comments such as the girl's. Staying with people that look like you can feel like a nice safety net to go back to when uncomfortable things happen like this.
Another less prominent reason of why people divide based on their color is because it can help them understand what racism is. It's said, "When we see strong, mutually respectful relationships between people of color and Whites, we are usually looking at the tangible results of both people's identity processes." (208). I like final part of chapter six a lot because it supports people figuring out who they are and their identity within themselves, even if it's supported by a specific group, if it means they can accept others. When people are able to better understand themselves and see what has made them who they are, they are more likely going to be capable of trying to understand why another person thinks there way without a negative bias interfering, since they know everyone has to go through things to become their own person. The downfall of this argument is that there is lacking supporting evidence from other sources. What would have really made this thought stand out and leave the reader thinking is if Tatum had interviewed people, Black and White, to share how becoming a part of a group of their own skin tone helped them accept others. Doing so would have made the end of this chapter super interesting and I think would have left the audience thinking more in depth about how the groups they grew up in helped shape how they view the diverse people around them.
This section of Tatum's book is where the definitions she gives (established in the first section I read) were really applied and argued for. As I stated in my previous post, I do think that there is a lot of room for more supporting evidence that would help the arguments a lot, but in general, the thoughts are clear. Personally, I am now being left thinking about how my social environment has impacted how I view other races, which I think is a good thing, even if it seems confusing. As of the end of chapter six, I think Tatum has done a pretty decent job developing her argument and why she thinks and processes things the way she does.
Another less prominent reason of why people divide based on their color is because it can help them understand what racism is. It's said, "When we see strong, mutually respectful relationships between people of color and Whites, we are usually looking at the tangible results of both people's identity processes." (208). I like final part of chapter six a lot because it supports people figuring out who they are and their identity within themselves, even if it's supported by a specific group, if it means they can accept others. When people are able to better understand themselves and see what has made them who they are, they are more likely going to be capable of trying to understand why another person thinks there way without a negative bias interfering, since they know everyone has to go through things to become their own person. The downfall of this argument is that there is lacking supporting evidence from other sources. What would have really made this thought stand out and leave the reader thinking is if Tatum had interviewed people, Black and White, to share how becoming a part of a group of their own skin tone helped them accept others. Doing so would have made the end of this chapter super interesting and I think would have left the audience thinking more in depth about how the groups they grew up in helped shape how they view the diverse people around them.
This section of Tatum's book is where the definitions she gives (established in the first section I read) were really applied and argued for. As I stated in my previous post, I do think that there is a lot of room for more supporting evidence that would help the arguments a lot, but in general, the thoughts are clear. Personally, I am now being left thinking about how my social environment has impacted how I view other races, which I think is a good thing, even if it seems confusing. As of the end of chapter six, I think Tatum has done a pretty decent job developing her argument and why she thinks and processes things the way she does.
