The "Black Table" Is Still There - By Lawrence Otis Graham

Lawrence Otis Graham ǀ Image Source: The Washington Post

Lawrence Otis Graham born in 1962 was lucky enough to be one of the few African-American families living in an upper-middle-class community in Westchester County near New York City. In the essay, The "Black Table" Is Still There Graham casts light on the causes of why the blacks are segregated in American society despite the attempt of the United States government since the 1950s to integrate all public schools there. Graham - a graduate of Princeton University and Harward Law School - works as an attorney in Manhattan and teaches at Fordham University.  The Supreme Court in 1954 found segregation of public schools an unconstitutional act.  Once again in 1971, the Supreme Court upheld the court order to achieve integration. After fourteen years, Graham returns to his old junior high school and he still finds that which he had not expected: he was very disappointed to see the "black table" was still there in the school cafeteria even after years of changes among races. He was expecting a kind of change but what he discovered was nothing close to his expectation.

In his essay, he discusses his concept of racism and how it developed from the time he was 13 to the time he was 27. He presents his experience as a black in an integrated school. Through him, one can understand the segregation of people and some of the reasons why colour differences continue to be a primary factor in why people segregate themselves. When he came to his junior high school for a class reunion after fourteen years, his concept changes: before he used to blame the blacks and as he returns to his old school he blames society.

When he was in his junior high school, he never sat with the black kids: he used to sit with the white ones. He was perhaps afraid of losing his white friends if he sat at the black table. Being at the black table, he thought that he would be making a racist, anti-white statement and would not support integration. From his position, he thought that it was his heroic action to be integrated with white ones. He used to be angry with black ones because, according to him, the black kids themselves were the reason why other kids did not mix more. And their self-segregation was the cause of white bigotry. Although he faced two incidents of blatantly racist (anti-black) behaviour: one in which his best friend, who was white, once told him that he should not come to his bar mitzvah because he would be the only black and would make (white) people feel uncomfortable; and the other incident is his mere presence, when he was only ten, in a private country club pool terrified white parents and they pulled their kids from the pool in terror, he was still somehow managed to blame only the black kids for being the barrier to integration.

Despite being an integrating black person, he says being a person of colour sitting with the white kids attracted its own scrutiny and disrespect from his own race. Due to this, he was being called "Oreo" and "white boy" by his own people (black kids). The investigation was not simply from the black ones, it was additionally from the white classmates, too, who inquired as to why he did not sit with the blacks, or for what reason all those black kids sit with each other.

Now after 27 years, he realizes how wrong he was then to think so. There were some other tables, too: two tables of athletes, an Italian table, a Jewish girls' table, a Jewish boys' table, a table of middle-class Irish kids and a table of kids who were into heavy metal music and smoking pot. His questions "Weren't these tables just as segregationist as the black table?" indicates that the black kids were not the only barrier to integration, rather it is the nature that people have and this is to be realized by all. From this, it is also clear that segregation goes beyond racial divides: people are social creatures; they create race and group barriers and segregate themselves into different groups that suit them best instead of trying multiethnic integration.

Comprehension

1. What exactly is the "black table"?

As in the essay, the "black table" means a lunch table in Graham's junior high school cafeteria where only black kids sit being segregated from the white kids.

2. In paragraph 1, Graham says that on a recent visit to his old junior high school he "came upon something that [he] never expected to see again." Why do you think the sight of the all-black lunch table was such a surprise to him?

The US government's attempt to encourage the integration of public schools since the 1950s, the Supreme Court's verdict relating segregation as an unconstitutional act and implementation of integration in public school systems according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a step toward integration between people of different races was a newer concept while he was in his junior high school. The scenario of self-segregation that he witnessed was upsetting him a lot. He was disappointed and very unsure whether he would ever integrate with others and sit at the "black table". He assumed that with the gap of time, the type of integration that the school was encouraging would one day become normal and there would not be any segregated (black) table(s), but when he returned to his old school after a long period of time, he was surprised to see the "black table" there. It means the things had stayed the same and it was, of course, not his expectation.

3. In Graham's junior high school, what factors determined where students sat?

In Graham's junior high school, students usually segregated themselves from others. They usually sat with them with whom they had something common; for instance, there were two tables of athletes, an Italian table, a Jewish girls' table, a Jewish boys' table, a table of middle-class Irish kids and a table of kids who were into heavy metal music and smoking pot.

4. Why didn't Graham sit at the "black table" when he was in junior high school?

Graham feared losing his white friends because he thought he would most probably be understood by his white friends that he was supporting anti-white sentiment if he sat at the "black table".

5. When he was a junior high school student, whom did Graham blame for the existence of the exclusively black lunch table? Whom or what does he now see as the cause of the table's existence?

When he was a junior high school student, he had a lot of dissatisfaction with those students who were sitting at the black table, and he, therefore, blamed them for the existence of the "black table". Now, he does not blame anybody. Instead of blaming anyone else, he understands that mandated integration is just superficial and despite the mandated integration, groups will tend to isolate themselves.

Purpose and Audience

1. What is Graham's thesis?

Graham's thesis is that despite mandated integration, groups will still segregate themselves based on their culture, interest or background.

2. Rather than introducing outside supporting information - such as statistics, interviews with educators, or sociological studies - Graham relies on his own opinions and on anecdotal evidence to support his thesis. Do you think this is enough? Explain your reasoning.

Despite the fact that Graham is making an expansive statement about self-segregation, this essay is to a great extent about his personal experience and how he has changed over the period of time. He is thinking about his own mentalities on how he should explore different spaces as a black person have developed. He looks back on how he used to feel a kind of frustration and hatred toward the black students who were involved in self-segregation and discusses the elements that have provoked him to distinctively see things. Since the article is so centred around personal reflection, it does not need any additional support.

3. Why does Graham give background information about himself in this essay - for example, in paragraphs 2 and 12? How does this information affect your reaction to him as a person? Your reaction to his essay? Do you think he needs to supply additional information about himself or about his junior high school? If so, what kind of information would be helpful?

The background information provided by Graham offers a useful perspective on several levels. first, information about the types of activities Graham was involved in during his youth indicates that he had a relatively privileged upbringing for an African American boy of his generation. He mentions that he was often "the first and only black man" in many of the activities he participated in. This helps to explain why he may have been reluctant to join the "black table" and resented those who did. Graham had integrated into non-black spaces for most of his life; so, it seemed more natural for him to continue this in the cafeteria; he found it difficult why the other children could not do the same.

The information in paragraph 12 shows that despite his frequent participation in "integrated" spaces, he still faced prejudiced, even if he did not realize it. This information shows the difference a perspective makes when looking at the types of self-segregation Graham discusses.

4. Do you think Graham's primary purpose here is to criticize a system he despises, to change his audience's views about segregated lunch tables, or to justify his own behaviour? Explain your conclusion.

I don't think Graham's primary purpose here is to criticize a system he condemns. Rather it seems that he has tried to change his audience's views about segregated lunch tables. Through his article, he has drawn the attention of the readers to all tables along with the black table. He notices that black tables need more scrutiny than other similar tables like an Italian table, a Jewish girls' table, a Jewish boys' table, etc. and he thinks this is unfair. By pointing out how widespread self-segregation is among different groups, as well as how constant the phenomenon has remained over time, he seems to convince his readers to understand that it is not exclusively for black students.

5. In paragraph 5, Graham tells readers that he usually entered the cafeteria with a white friend; in paragraph 12, he reveals that his best friend was white. Why do you suppose he wants his audience to know these facts?

These facts are important for the readers to understand the context of this story. It is clear that there were primarily white kids in his friend circle, and his closeness to white friends brings a kind of dilemma before him and forces him not to sit at the black table with the kids of his own race. It superficially sounds very obvious and unquestioned that he sits with white friends but on the other hand, his decision was questioned both by his black and white classmates. To his black classmates, his decision was a form of betrayal whereas his white classmates wondered why he was not sitting with other black kids. Graham himself felt that if he did not choose to sit at the black, he would upset his white friends.

Style and Structure

1. Throughout his essay, Graham asks rhetorical questions. Identify as many of these questions as you can. Are they necessary? Provocative? Distracting? Explain.

Actually paragraphs 3 and 7 are full of rhetorical questions. Along with these two, paragraph 10 has two others: "Is that what the all-black table means?" and "Is it a rejection of white people?". Similarly, paragraphs 13 and 14 contain two more rhetorical questions. They are: "What was I thinking?" and "Weren't these tables just as segregationists as the black table?" respectively.

As this essay is entirely based on Graham's own experience, rhetorical questions are justifiable for this essay. The purpose of making these rhetorical questions seems to show the types of questions he was struggling with himself during his stay in junior high school and he still struggles with many of them. These questions are helpful for the readers to understand what Graham was going through, and these rhetorical questions also stir up the readers to think about these questions themselves.

2. In paragraph 16, Graham quotes his long-ago classmates. What do these quotations reveal? Should he have included more of them?

If we look at paragraph 1, Graham says that the "black table" was "a source of fear and dread" for him during his stay in junior high school. His quotes in paragraph 16 help the readers to understand where this fear and dread came from. It does not matter where Graham sat, he felt that he couldn't win; he was criticized either way. If he sat at the black table, he felt like he would be avoiding his white friends, who didn't understand "why all those black kids sit together". On the other hand, not sitting at the black table resulted in scrutiny from his black classmates and more questions from white students.

These quotations reveal that Graham's anxiety about these segregated tables was not simply internal conflict. His choices were being analysed by his peers. Including more quotations would have helped to make it clearer; however, the essay works just fine as it is.

3. Is Graham's focus on finding causes, describing effects, or both? Explain.

This essay is primarily about causes. Of course, he first describes the causes that stop him from sitting at the black table. Because of causes, he chose to sit with his white classmates and often feared that he might lose them if he sat at the black table. Moreover, he assumed that the black students' self-segregation was promoting anti-white sentiment around. On the other hand, he also talks about possible causes for the existence of the black tables there. He also recalls how he once blamed the black students for the segregation but later he says it is people's tendency to self-segregate themselves on the basis of their common interests and others.

4. This essay uses first-person pronouns and contractions. Do you think Graham would have more credibility if he used a less personal and more formal style?

No, I don't think so because this essay is a very personal one in which Graham shares his own insights and experiences that he had to strongly support his thesis. Therefore, his informal style of using first-person pronouns best fits to the content of this essay.

Vocabulary Projects

1. Define each of the following words as it is used in this selection.

    scenario (2)    : a sequence of events

    espousing (8)    : supporting, embracing

    incensed (12)    : angered, outraged

    blatantly (13)    : obviously, clearly

    scrutiny (15)    : critical examination

    inroads (17)    : advances