Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

Black History Month

Staff recommendations, guest essays, and curated reading lists.

The classic, bestselling book on the psychology of racism-now fully revised and updated

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.

"We don't talk about race in America, but we must start if we are going to heal this broken country--and Beverly Tatum's book is exactly the conversation opener we should be using." Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things

"Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria was a landmark publication when it appeared in 1997. Twenty years later this updated edition is as fresh, poignant and timely as ever." Earl Lewis, President, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

"An unusually sensitive work about the racial barriers that still divide us in so many areas of life." Jonathan Kozol

Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD, is president emerita of Spelman College and in 2014 received the Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology, the highest honor presented by the American Psychological Association. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.