About book Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations In An Era Of School Resegregation (2007)
This book is a collection of lectures that Dr. Tatum Gave as the inaugural speaker of the Simmons College/Beacon Press Race, Education and Democracy lecture series. The chapters are titled: The Resegregation of our Schools and the Affirmation of Identity; Connecting the Dots: Jow Race in America's Classrooms Affects Achievement; "What Kind of Friendship is That?": The Search for Authenticity, Mutuality, and Social Transformation in Cross-Racial Relationships; and In Search of Wisdom: Higher Education for a Changing Democracy.All of the chapters deal with race and society as well as race and education. They are strsightforward, insightful, and full of hope. I highly recommend this book and her first book "What are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" And other Conversations about Race to anyone going into the teaching profession or planning on raising children in America.
3.5 stars. Tatum's book is based on a series of lectures she gave at Simmons College back in 2006. I was in attendance at the those lectures and inspired by her insight into the intersections of race and education and the critical ways those intersections have been and are carried out in our nation's systems of formal education. Reading the book and revisiting Tatum's ideas was valuable as a place to 'check in' about these issues, but didn't necessarily provide tons of easily applicable action steps. Even so, the conversations she engages about the resegregation of American schools, issues of academic achievement, the need for and challenges to authentic cross-racial friendships, and the role of higher education in these issues are needed and welcome.
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A short book, based on a series of lectures, Tatum discusses her experience as an integration baby and the resegregation of schools today. Many good tidbits in this book such as:The ABC approach to creating affirming classrooms: Affirm identity, building community and cultivating leadership. Verna Ford’s mantra: “Think you can—work hard—get smart.” I’m looking forward to reading the author’s other book, “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?", but it is currently on hold at the library.
—Patricia
