Clark Doll Test: Black children are racist.

An experiment uncovered the effect of culture on racism.

The Clark Doll Test reveals the detrimental effects of racial stereotypes racial stereotyping and ethnic segregation in the United States.

The Clark Doll Test

The study teaches us the harms caused by segregation and structural racism on the self-perception of children ages six to nine.

Background of the study

The Clark Doll Test was conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark. The research wanted to bring to light the stereotypes and self-perception of children linked to their ethnic background. The findings from Clark's experience were used to confirm that racial segregation in schools could alter young people's thinking about African American people, causing them to internalize certain stereotypes that would give foundation to xenophobic beliefs, both in young whites and, surprisingly, in young blacks, causing the latter to also reproduce certain ideas against blacks.causing the latter to also reproduce certain ideas against blacks.

The test is famous for its relevance and social impact. social impact The test is famous for its relevance and the social impact it had, although it has been criticized as lacking experimental safeguards. Clark pointed out the contrasts between children attending inner-city schools in Washington, D.C., and those in integrated schools in New York City.

Clark's evidence had a decisive influence on the Brown v. American Council on Education case in 1954. The research served to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court that "separate but equal" schools for blacks and whites had inequitable foundations, and were therefore contrary to the law, which upheld the integration and equality of children in school.

Methodology

During the experiment, Clark showed African-American children between the ages of six and nine years old two rag dolls, one of white complexion (which corresponded to the image of a Caucasian person) and the other with a black complexion. black complexion (which corresponded to a black person).

The questions were presented in this order:

• Point me to the doll that you like the most or would like to play with.
• Point me to the doll that is the "good" doll.
• Point me to the doll that looks like the "bad" doll.
• Give me the doll that looks like a white girl.
• Give me the doll that looks like a colored girl.
• Give me the doll that looks like a black.
• Give me the doll that looks like you.

Results

The experimenters revealed that black children chose to play more frequently with the white dolls.. When the children were asked to draw a human figure with their own skin color, they usually chose a lighter skin tone than their own. The children attributed more positive adjectives to the color "white", such as pretty and good. On the other hand, the color "black" was associated with the attributes of bad y ugly.

The last question asked by the scholars was one of the most controversial. Up to that point, most black children had identified the black doll as "the bad one." Among the participants, 44% indicated that the white doll was the one that most resembled themselves.

The researchers interpreted the results as evidence that black children internalized at a young age certain racist prejudices and stereotypes, caused by the discrimination and stigmatization generated by racial segregation.

Criticism of the research

The Clark Doll Test has been criticized for having transcended thanks to the mediatization of its influence in the U.S. court case, the study being pointed out as lacking prior theoretical depth and control of the variables.

Critics argue that the authors of the study (Clark and his wife) committed certain biases of partiality. committed certain biases due to the fact that it was a married couple from an African-American ethnic background, which may have distorted the results of the study.and may have distorted the results to victimize people of color.