So you want to be woke on Racial Identity.
Race is a socially-constructed system of classifying individuals according to phenotypical characteristics that are genetically determined but not always consistent.
Dr. Tatum's book takes a multi-faceted approach to understanding the concept of racial identity. Not only does it showcase what it means to be a person of color in America, it offers solid suggestions for parents and adolescents alike to approach teaching others about their identity and how to educate children of color to understand their identity regardless of the environment they may be raised in.
This article discusses how black people are often expected to compose themselves in a specific form to appear non-threating. This concept of respectability politics is an important one to understand and Jarune Uwujaren explains why it needs to end and the burdens it places on this marginalized group.
Photos above from Unsplash.