Throughout Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Tatum uses an abundance of quotes. Such are full of more information that she believes are a lot more effective as direct quotes; they are full of information and stories that would be hard to paraphrase or summarize.
In this section of the book, (pages 362 through 308) the majority of the direct quotes are minorities (besides the Black population) sharing their own personal stories and experiences with racism. Their stories trigger an emotional response from the readers. One American Indian student states, "One of our school's biggest rivals is the Calaveras Redskins. Calaveras has always had an obscene amount of school pride, but little do they know how damaging their game-time routines are... I feel ganged up on... Worst of all, the most offensive stuff doesn't even come from the Redskins... I have heard my own friends yelling around me... (265) Reading this student's first-hand encounter allows us as readers to feel the discontent and discomfort of a American Indian student. If his story had instead been given a short summary, then the emotions he feels would have been minimized and would not cause the same reaction.
The offense that White people are guilty of vary across different races. Asian Americans, primarily from immigrant families, are not given the educational help that they truly need to succeed. Tatum quotes a Vietnamese student whose English is a second language:
Sometimes, the English teachers, they don't understand about us. Because something we not do good... like my English is not good. And she say, "Oh your English is great!" But that's the way
of American culture is. But my cultures is not like that. If my English is not good, [the teacher]
has to say, "Your English is not good. So you have to go home and Study."... But some
Americans, you know, they don't understand about myself. So they just say, "Oh! You're doing a
good job!..." Teachers talk like that, but my culture is different. They say, "You have to do
better." So sometimes when I do something not good, and my teachers say, "Oh, you did so
great!" I don't like it. I want the truth better. (284)
We know that teachers mean well and wish their students the best, hoping for them to thrive, but when students who clearly want and need more help are not provided the resources, they will not reach their fullest potential. Through his broken English, we can feel the frustration and sadness this student feels. He is used to how his culture communicates with one another and their high (and blunt) standards. It is nice to be told you're doing well, but not when you are not actually thriving; this is when someone's weaknesses need to be pointed out and supported. Asian students are stereo-typically known to be good at math and science areas in school, not English and social studies. In this quote, the readers are able to understand why immigrant students might not do so well in English. Tatum writes, "... students often suffer from communication anxiety, feeling inadequate about their writing and speaking ability. This anxiety may contribute to a student's choice to pursue subject areas... that require less verbal fluency." (284) The praise that is being given to students like the one above is not based on genuine success, but rather, I think, pity. Teachers don't want to make a student that is falling behind feel bad, but the false support they provide isn't any better. Tatum, by including this point of view, is pointing out how American culture is backhandedly racist, even when it's trying its best to be kind.
The inclusion of many big and emotional block quotes in this section of Tatum's book provides strong evidence of America's racism. I think that without the use of them, this book would be much less powerful. Yes, there would still be many statistics which support Tatum's message, but readers' hearts would not be in it. Additionally, the use of quotes from so many people who have experienced racism more interesting. Reading just numbers with some commentary tends to get boring, so mixing in some narratives allows the readers to reinvest themselves into what is in front of them.
