37 Quotes by Beverly Daniel Tatum

It is important to understand that the system of advantage is perpetuated when we do not acknowledge its existence.

The social pressure from friend and acquaintance to collude, to not notice racism, can be quite powerful.

Social psychologist Susan Fiske writes,“It is a simple principle: People pay attention to those who control their outcomes. In an effort to predict and possibly influence what is going to happen to them, people gather information about those with power.”11.

If young people are exposed to images of African American academic achievement in their early years, they won’t have to define school achievement as something for Whites only. They will know that there is a long history of Black intellectual achievement.

Despair is an act of resignation I am not willing to make.

In a situation of unequal power, a subordinate group has to focus on survival. It becomes very important for the subordinates to become highly attuned to the dominants as a way of protecting themselves from them.

White people who are doing this work need to make their stories known to serve as guides for others.

Resisting the stereotypes and affirming other definitions of themselves is part of the task facing young Black women in both White and Black communities.

Unfortunately for Black teenagers, those cultural stereotypes do not usually include academic achievement.