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

People of color receive messages throughout their lives that they are different, that they are worth less, that they are abnormal, that they don’t belong. Asian Pacific Americans are assumed to be foreign, even when they were born in the US. Black Americans receive messages at school that they are less intelligent and capable of achieving less. Latinxs are treated as outsiders for speaking Spanish, Muslims are rejected for believing in a “violent” and “hateful” religion, and Native people are reduced to caricatures in the media. Parents of White children can easily find countless children’s books with White characters, while Tatum had to actively search for books and toys that reflected her sons’ appearances. In recent years, Trump’s polarizing discourse has only served to further emphasize that people of color are “them” and not “us.” As a result of all these messages, young people of color become increasingly aware as they grow up that their race or ethnicity marks them as an “other.”

One result of otherness is increased visibility. As they go about their lives, people of color are continuously seen as members of their group, whereas White people are accustomed to being seen simply as individuals.