Beverly Daniel Tatum quotes:

To work effectively as an agent of change in a pluralistic society, it is necessary to be able to connect with people different from oneself.

In order to prevent chronic discomfort, Whites may learn not to notice.

White people who are doing this work need to make their stories known to serve as guides for others.

We all get misinformation growing up about people who are different from ourselves.

The task of resisting our own oppression does not relieve us of the responsibility of acknowledging our complicity in the oppression of others.

Many white people experience themselves as powerless, even in the face of privilege. But the fact is that we all have a sphere of influence, some domain in which we exercise some level of power and control. The task for each of us, White and of color, is to identify what our own sphere of influence is (however large or small) and to consider how it might be used to interrupt the cycle of racism.

To say that it is not our fault does not relieve us of responsibility. However, we may not have polluted the air, but we need to take responsibility, along with others, for cleaning it up. Each of us needs to look at our own behavior. Am I perpetuating and reinforcing the negative messages so pervasive in our culture, or am I seeking to challenge them?

It is important to understand that the system of advantage is perpetuated when we do not acknowledge its existence.

The social pressure from friend and acquaintance to collude, to not notice racism, can be quite powerful.