Assimilation Blues Black Families in White Communities, Who Succeeds and Why

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? an in-depth look at Black families in a White community.

"A brutally honest account of what it's really like to grow up Black inside a White world." -Lawrence Otis Graham, author of Our Kind of People 

From the author of the widely acclaimed Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and in-depth look at Black families in a White community.

What does it mean to be Black in the predominantly White, middle-class community of "Sun Beach," a place some call "paradise?" Is it the ultimate symbol of success? Or will one pay in isolation, alienation, rootlessness?

Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, interviewed Black families extensively to identify the sacrifices and achievements necessary to survive and prosper in a White community. By listening to the individual voices of these children and their parents, Dr. Tatum skillfully probes the complex questions of identity that arise for a visible people rendered invisible by their surroundings.