Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

214 The Praeger Handbook of Education and Psychology
involved in supporting each other, or it can be seen as something negative, that is, as a situation
that needs to be fixed. Consequently, the unsettling incidents that are revealed through Tatum’s
cafeteria-like self-segregation phenomenon shed light on yet another complex race situation and
often result in critical enlightenment concerning issues of power and dominance at work in a
democratic society. Although these views about racism, whether positive or negative, originate
from natural spaces, they are not necessarily experienced in totally isolated contexts. Furthermore,
Tatum’s research introduces various coping mechanisms dealing with racism used by blacks in
specific environments and also exposes examples of trickle-down negative consequences, from
childhood to adulthood, that are connected to black lived world experiences.
Tatum’s introduction of coping mechanisms for racist acts emerges from a new critical consciousness
and a rigorous form of criticality that aligns with postformalist thinking. She is able to
launch the criticality necessary to pursue the discomfort that is usually associated with discussions
on race and in addition, embrace the subsequent life changing revelations that generally follow
these experiences. This innovative way of thinking critically about race sheds new light on the
power and influence of the web of reality for black kids as well as black adults and demonstrates
how this intricate interconnected web affects others. Tatum’s research about race in Why Are All
the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race and in
Assimilation Blues - Black Families in White Communities: Who Succeeds and Why? provides the
resources needed to transfer pertinent coping mechanisms to the minority population and begins
to plan for change. Operating in a manner similar to Joe Kincheloe’s postformalist framework,
Tatum proceeds to go deeper into the “what is” and then questions the norm with her willingness
to do the rigorous work by addressing the “what could be.” She is able, from a postformalist
viewpoint, to exercise the criticality necessary to pursue the stages of discomfort usually equated
with discussions on race and also acknowledge the subsequent life-changing revelations that
follow the conversations.
Tatum’s work on race relations gives educational psychologists, lay people, and educators the
nudge to seek out the larger, more intrusive issues surrounding black kids and, consequently,
in doing so buy into a more challenging, rather than accepted and predetermined, existence.
What tends to be missed, sometimes blatantly ignored or even callously disregarded, is the
kaleidoscopic world black kids are expected to face on a daily basis. In this particular world
filled with mixed stimuli and an array of contextually based mixed messages, there is an endless
variety of racist patterns configuring themselves in blinding displays of bright converging and
confusing colors. These messages are presented from multiple lenses which intensify human
existence and cause, on one hand, a constant need for blacks to search for survival skills and, on
the other hand, enables the powers of the hegemonic groups to be nurtured and simultaneously
enhanced. Therefore, context needs to be examined with a critical eye, and that is where Tatum’s
particularly perceptive peripheral vision again becomes apparent and necessary. With this vision,
she emphasizes the power of and need for hermeneutics in the field of educational psychology.
In the context of the school cafeteria, a place customarily deemed as a “neutral” space where
people can be free to choose whom they wish to socialize with, Tatum’s critical eye is needed
to interpret the reality of the situation. In a sense, the cafeteria appears to assume the idea of
claiming territorial rights whereas students stake out areas in specific spaces mainly for reasons
of bonding, comfort, and support. Thus, it is territorial only because black kids feel as if they
have to protect a space for themselves in which they are allowed to say anything they want,
to interact with people who look like them and possibly have similar life experiences as well.
Tatum acknowledges as well as supports the need for black kids to secure sacred bonding spaces.
In taking this stand, she gives credence to the black voice and encourages reaching out to one
another within the confines of select spaces to satisfy growing life needs and become visible by
means of action as well as speech. The action of racial solidarity demonstrates that power exists