In the United States, most schools of today promote multicultural diversity and equality. Thus, most institutions accept students of every color and race to impart with them the knowledge and skills that they need in the future. However, as a result of this diversity, social groups have formed. The formation of these social groups can especially be observed in the school cafeteria.
Social groups and cliques are formed based on the chemistry of students who have certain commonalities. These groups and cliques are evidently seen in the school cafeteria. Students prefer to sit with their social groups, which ostracizes people in their out-group. This phenomenon is apparent among African-American students, who want to avoid racist encounters. Moreover, experience taught them that they are the only people who can understand and relate to the experiences of other African-Americans (Tatum 268).
When I was having lunch one day, I noticed a lot of things. Jocks sat together with the cheerleaders, and so did the students who look like geeks or nerds. Asians gather together in the cafeteria as well, as African-Americans dominate their own tables. When an African-American girl entered the cafeteria, she scanned the surroundings. Then, the table full with Black American kids called her to sit with them.
Thinking that the people who can understand them the most are those from their own race, African-American kids tend to gather support from their African-American. They believe that white kids will just remark and attribute a racist situation to their alleged oversensitivity. In the school cafeteria, one would be able to see the various groups of people which they consider their support system after a racist encounter.
Work Cited
- Tatum, Beverly Daniel. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And _ Other Conversations About Race. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2003.