Bernstein published an article, “Let Black Kids Just be Kids”, about the innocence of kids based on race and the different perspectives on children throughout the years. Meiners published a book, “For the Children? Protecting Innocence in a Carceral State”, focusing on the idea that childhood is not accessible to everyone. Both authors agree that only white people have access to innocence and childhood. In her article, Bernstein introduces her main argument, that black children are seen as more adult-like and less innocent, by remembering Trayvon Martin. Martin was 17 when he was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, who admitted at his hearing that he thought Trayvon was much older than he actually was. Bernstein introduces the different views and ideas of enlightenment thinkers and earlier generations on children. These ideas varied from children being blank slates to children naturally being sinful and having guilty states. In the 19th century innocence was introduced as the most important quality that distinguished children from adults. However, many writers and and playwrights made it eventually clear that “only white kids were allowed to be innocent” and that children of color, especially black children, were “being defined as non-children”. These early discriminatory ideas had a major indirect impact on the reason as to why Zimmerman thought that Martin was older and that he wasn’t a…
else where social lives are occurring. It is obvious that racism is not a good thing as it was many decades ago and it is still occurring in society especially in schools even though the government abolished it several decades ago. Two articles—“Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Tatum and “From Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid” by Jonathan Kozol—present two opposite views on the desire to resolve the inequality in public…
In the poem Ode to the only Black Kid Class, the author who is Clint Smith, uses many forms of literary terms. Speaking of the author, Clint Smith is an African American writer, teacher, and Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard University. He also won the Poetry Slam Competition. In the poem Smith uses literary terms such as metaphors, similes, and allusion to question or challenge the racial divisions. Smith uses allusion by referring the only black kid in class to the famous case which was Brown vs…
identifying oneself in terms of race and ethnicity. As children enter adolescence they may go from being confident in themselves to being doubtful and uncertain. Beverly Daniel Tatum says in her essay “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria,” children entering adolescence begin to explore their identity, while pointing out how Black children question themselves in terms of their race and ethnicity (Tatum 375). In the essay, Tatum explains the reasons and effects of racial…
Why are all the black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria provided by the narrator herself, student’s comments, and some in text citations. 5. What social, political, or economic questions do these article raise? How do you respond to these questions? Socially, it shows there still may be problems when it comes to segregations. Consider how the students in the essay How male and female students use language differently, students had problems communicating even when it came to sex.…
All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, clinical psychologist, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, researches racial identity development and the role of it in education. Her writing focuses on the different gathering patterns formed within multiracial high schools and racial identity in the Black community. Tatum’s purpose is to bring awareness to the struggle Black teens face in school systems that is of hushed conversation. She explains, “What is problematic is that young people are…
and the United States operates as a “color-blind” community. However, this may not be the best way to function and progress as a society. Throughout an excerpt from her book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, author Beverly Daniel Tatum uses the examples of forming a black identity, acknowledging the personal impacts of racism, and finally the social impact of racial encounters to show the strength behind racial identity in order to convey that finding camaraderie in…
In her essay “Why Are All the Black Kids sitting together in the Cafeteria?” Beverly Tatum, analyzes the significance of African American students migrating towards each other in social outings within schools. Many people believe that the kids migrate towards each other simply because they are friends, however Tatum argues that the reason goes far beyond friendship. As children began to grow into adolescents, they become curious as to who they are or what their purpose is in the world. However,…
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? where she explores the hidden world of black students trying to find their identity. Tatum claims that self-perception is shaped by others, including the environment which can cause a fragmented view of one's self-image. I must agree that self-perception is in fact significantly affected by others and their views. Tatum argues in her essay with tone, diction, examples, definitions, and rhetorical appeals as she explains why kids of…
The black bear is the smallest of the North American bears (“Be”, 2012). It has small eyes and ears are well-rounded. The Black Bear has 42 teeth: 12 incisors, 4 canines, 16 premolars and 10 molars. They weigh on average of 300 to 400 pounds (the female considerably less), they stand 27 to 36 inches high at the shoulder. There is an estimated number of 600,000 black bears in North America. How would you properly take care of a black bear in captivity? If you are wanting to own a black bear…