Join us for this conversation between Beverly Daniel Tatum and Minouche Shafik about Dr Tatum's book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, a perennial bestseller on the psychology of racism, which has been published in the UK for the first time this year.

Walk into any racially mixed secondary school and you will see young people clustered in their own groups according to race. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum guides us through how racial identity develops, from very young children all the way to adulthood, in black families, white families, and mixed race families, and helps us understand what we can do to break the silence, have better conversations with our children and with each other about race, and build a better world. A mainstay on the bookshelves of American readers since 1998, and substantially revised and updated in 2017, this evergreen bestseller is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of race.

You can order the book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.

Meet our speaker and chair

Beverly Daniel Tatum (@BDTSpelman), president emerita of Spelman College, is the author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race, now in its 20th anniversary edition. A thought-leader in higher education, she was the 2013 recipient of the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award and the 2014 recipient of the American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology. Dr Tatum holds a BA degree in psychology from Wesleyan University, a MA and PhD in clinical psychology from University of Michigan, and a MA in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary.

Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this, she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. She is an alumna of LSE. Her new book, What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract, is out now.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSETatum

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

A video of this event is available to watch at Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.