Beverly Christine Daniel Tatum (born September 27, 1954) is an American psychologist, administrator, and educator who has conducted research and written books on the topic of racism.
Focusing specifically on race in education, racial identity development in teenagers, and assimilation of black families and youth in white neighborhoods.
[2] Tatum calls herself an "integration baby,” having been born only four months after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed race-based segregation in schools.
Much of her family, including her parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents attended some of the best historically black colleges and universities.,[7] such as the Tuskegee Institute and Howard University.
[8][9] Tatum has brought her expertise in the realm of racial identity development to lectures, workshops, and panels across the country, even speaking as a panel member at the Summit on Race Relations and America's Public Education System, a publicly broadcast conversation about race relations that was hosted by President Bill Clinton.
[11] In Beverly Tatum's widely cited article Talking about Race, Learning about Racism: The Application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom, published in the Harvard Educational Review, she describes her experiences teaching classes on race related issues, and she applies Racial Identity Development Theory as a framework that is useful for understanding common student responses to such topics.
[12] She summarizes her career-long commitment to teaching about and leading discussions on race, at various institutions, in the following quote: "I was convinced that helping students understand the ways in which racism operates in their own lives and what they could do about it, was a social responsibility that I should accept.
She describes how students often responded to such topics emotionally, expressing guilt, shame, and anger, all of which had the potential to prevent them from engaging with and appreciating the material.
In presenting these journal entries, Tatum reveals that while students go through their own personal evolution, in response to topics of race, their experiences also tend to map onto racial identity theory, quite well.
She draws on vivid personal anecdotes of interactions with her own children and students, as well as empirical literature, to build a case for the relevance and significance of racial identity development in terms of achievement, mental health, and inclusion.
[15] In 2012, she launched a Wellness Revolution, which was designed to empower students to make healthy choices relating to exercise, diet, and sleep.