Beverly Daniel Tatum

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. Tatum uses works from her students, personal experience, and psychology learning. Tatum served from 2002 to 2015 as the ninth president of Spelman College, the oldest historically black women's college in the United States. Tatum is the author of the widely acclaimed book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria" And Other Conversations About Race, in which she argues that Americans are reluctant to talk about issues of race, and that we must begin to consider the psychological effects of racial identity development. In her more recent 2007 book, Can We Talk about Race? and Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation, Tatum again highlights the urgent need for conversations about race, emphasizing the continued racial segregation of schools and the impacts that this has on achievement of racial minorities. Early life Beverly Christine Daniel Tatum was born on September 27, 1954, in Tallahassee, Florida. Her parents were Catherine Faith Maxwell and Robert A. Daniel. 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. Tatum grew up in Bridgewater, Mass., where she recalls usually being the only black student in her classes.