Racial evolving
... “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” by Beverly Tatum talks about race and begins with her definition of racial identity formation. According to Tatum, this concept refers to the "process of defining for oneself the personal significance and social meaning of belonging to a particular racial group. Tatum suggests that individuals of different racial backgrounds have to define for themselves how to react to and live with their race. She says that the process is affected by the economy, society, and politics and yet she offers two sets of stages, one for Blacks and one for Whites, to explain racial development. The stages for the racial development of African Americans consist of five phases: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion/emersion, internalization, and internalization-commitment. ... Beverly Tatum writes that there are six different stages for the racial development of White people: contact, disintegration, reintegration, pseudo-independent, immersion/emersion, and autonomy. ... Pseudo-independent stage allows Whites to understand the benefits they receive because of societys system of racial advantage and disadvantages. ... Despite Tatums extensive discussion of the different stages for both the racial identity formation of Blacks and Whites, it seems as though it is only relevant for Blacks. ... As the minority in a White dominated society, Blacks tend to have more of a need for the racial identity development stages. ... A good number of times that is true due to the dominance of racial profiling. ... Society says that in order to fit in a certain racial group, it is best to act like that group. ... Furthermore, Tatum would suggest that even if Jacoby had tried to "act Black", he would not be changing his racial identity, but adopting societal stereotypes. Yet, the movie industry does give the impression that by “acting Black” or “acting White”, by adopting the stereotypes of the other race, a person can fit into that racial group and be accepted.