For my high-school literature class I was constructing an anthology with a wide range of different stories that I believed reflected the black girl’s experience. http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/6/a_girl_like_me/
The Clarks' doll experiments grew out of Mamie's master's degree thesis and yielded 3 papers between 1939 and 1940. They found that Black children often preferred to play with white dolls over black; that, asked to fill in a human figure with the color of their own skin they frequently chose a lighter shade than was accurate, and that they viewed white as good and pretty, but black as bad and ugly.[1] They viewed this as evidence of internalized racism caused by stigmatization.
The Clarks testified as expert witnesses in several school desegregation cases including Briggs v. Elliott, one of the cases that were later combined into the famous Brown v. Board of Education, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned racial segregation in public education. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark_%28doll_test%29

Wow, this is so sad... I strongly believe we were all created equal, and seeing any kind of discrimination shocks me greatly.

What I find even sadder is the fact that even though I really think this is an awesome documentary, someone actually voted against it.

Excellent post, thanks joedirt.

Here we go with this shit again.

You want your people to move forward? Drop this bullshit already. She is upset she doesn't know where her people came from? Neither do I. I can't tell you on a map what part of Ireland or Germany my family came from.. It has no weight on me because I am an American. Here's a lesson for her what the culture is like in Africa; corruption and genocide.

The sad part is that this is that this documentry is even given a time of day anymore. So some black people want to have lighter skin? What about the white people who tan their skin to be darker? Good for them, who fucking cares?

Too many times do I see a black documenterian talking about how the black culture is still down and how there's so much wrong with them, when they should be saying "OK, that shit is in the past, let's see what is going right."

Oh, and sweet heart, your own people in Africa are just as guilty in the slave trades as the white people in the boats bringing them over. Think about that for a while.

ultimateforce,

First of all, I find it VERY sad that you created an account for the sole purpose of posting this message.. or maybe to cover your true account name.. very cowardly.
I'm sorry all you took out of this video was someone bitching about their culture and why Africans are in this country. I think you missed the point all together.

You say we should look at what is going right, and not pay attention to anything like this, or even "give it a time of day". Sorry you can't stand this kind of "bullshit", but maybe you need to rewatch it.

The issue here is that just like the doll test conducted back BEFORE Brown v. BOE... I think it's very telling what young children are saying about American values and what messages our culture is communicating to children. See, the issue isn't "blacks" bitching about their struggles. The issue is what message is being sent by our 'going so right' culture and TV. You gotta admit that's pretty farked up that these black children view the white doll as the nice doll and the black doll as the mean one.

You knwo what is even more farked up?! The students who made this documentary had to go to THREE toy stores before they could find a black doll in the first place.

Haha.

Ultimateforce you sure saw this video from a very different perspective than I did.

I personally don't give a rat's ass about people's roots because I think we're all ultimately equal, and getting into all that heritage BS only brings more trouble by separating us into different groups each with their own "special" attributes, etc. and trying somehow to point out some things that supposedly make us superior to other groups.

The way I saw this video mainly because of its title (recreating the "doll test"), and the "skip to 3:20" note, was as an appalling proof that a lot of people, in this case the blacks, practice some kind of self discrimination whether it's conscious or unconscious.

I think all that is truly messed up as I have already stated that I strongly believe that we are all equal beings, and as far as I know anyone could've been born anywhere in the world, within any race, etc.

It isn't that they needed a black doll, they needed two identical dolls. One black and one white. But the black skin isn't the issue here, how many times are we shown the bad guy as a man dressed in black? There's more to this than race, but it's really easy to play the race card. Yawn.

You seem kind of dismissive, when you say that this is some how 'playing the race card'.

This coming from someone who equates the negative value placed on black dolls, with "bad guys are dressed in black". I assume you aren't 100% serious with that logic. But who knows..

Well, did they test Chinese kids too? Where's the yellow doll? Did they try Indian children in this test?

The race card was played, I am not falling for this crap.

I feel terribly bad for black billionairessses like Oprah. I'll try to remember her suffering while I work shit jobs tomorrow.

"bad guys dressed in black"

Well, in most movies and on tv, the bad guy is usually whiteskinned, so I dont think these kids get it from there, its really strange that they view the opposite skin color as the "best". I dont want them to be racists of course, maybe they get told early on not to be racists, and not to think white people are bad and so on.

I mean, I'm white and even when I was 5, I might have pick the black doll as the "nicest" to prove I'm no racist.. It would be interesting to see the same test with white kids.

I will start off by saying that I am in fact racist, as is everyone other person who is alive. Everyone is racist, you will always make a decision based on how people look and where they come from. Every civilization known to mankind has shown racism. Its not a bad thing, it is human nature.

So what if they picked the white doll? It is dolls people, it has nothing to do with real life. I bet if you asked some young black girls who they would like to play with those dolls with, they would choose black girls. The fact that they picked the white dolls is based on a human archetype. The white dolls are brighter, and by extension cheerier and happier. Black is indeed a depressing color and I'm sure little girls don't want to be depressed while playing with toys.

Oh and people want to be light skinned? Yah tell that to every person in a tanning salon. The grass is always greener.

Great post, scary and nasty comments. The ignorance and condescension on the part of ultimateforce and others is disturbing.

Mushi, you are being too hard on yourself. I don't think you're racist... I think you bring up some really good points about how depressing black people are. White people sure are cheerier and happy. Sure black skinned really isn't the exact color black, more of an icky brown, but that's also depressing. Just like white skin really is more of a peachy color. And that's pretty peachy!

Too bad more people don't see the world in such a (excuse the pun) black and white way. Black is dark and evil, so black people by extension are also (it's in the name) and white is good and angelic, so white people.. well I don't need to tell you.

You know I saw someone leaving a tanning salon just the other day, and they were pretty dark. It looked sorta like red to me, but who knows, maybe that was a Native American. Why don't they have anti-tanning salons. Then people wouldn't have to make stupid videos like this one.

I know there is a BET. Where is the IET,CET,GET,IAET,TET,WET? Why dont all the rest of the nations have their own television stations.

Race is always a charged issue, with very strong views that make it difficult to go beyond the obvious. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

This video is interesting because it shows that perceptions about race are internalized at a very early age. What is more telling is that they know they look like the black doll but refer to the white doll as the nicest and prettiest. This fact is troubling because it suggests that their self-image is low due of the way they perceive themselves.

What I think is more important is how little these perceptions about race have changed among African-Americans since the 1940’s. In the intervening years, American society did away with segregation, placed more people of color as positive role models, and we have seen a large increase in a black middle class. This is not to say that racism is dead, just stating that great strides have been made in the right direction.

And yet, children’s perceptions on race seem to have remained static since the 40’s. This leads me to the conclusion that the main cause for this kids’ warped self-image is not American society as whole (which has evolved somewhat, while their perceptions have not). I think that racial prejudices inherent in black households are far more pervasive. This makes sense since the major socialization influence of children is their own families, so that we end up adopting our own family’s attitudes as our own.

In conclusion, no matter how far society as a whole go in terms of race equality, as long as African-American adults continue favoring lighter skin, straight hair, and other traits of white people, their children will continue to have a low self-image and perpetuate the cycle with their own children.

good point voice, though I do take issue with major socialization influences coming from family. Sure that's a huge part, but sadly I think there may be a greater or equal part that comes from tv, movies, radio, ads, and partly the neighborhood and socio-economic environment they grow up in.

Marketing has probably advanced faster than psychology, and is truly masterfully effective, overtly and subvertly. But you could say that the 40s/50s did not have the same level of mass media so it is hard to compare. But in my view, the images and amount of exposure to television and media essentially replaces the formerly historic societal perceptions and racism, with other forms of messages that lead to the low self-worth. Maybe it is how black people in media are portrayed, or the very effective children targeted ads don't feature black dolls.

Anyways, it took it for what it was worth, and it is troubling the same perceptions are present in young children.

I thought that was extremely well done for high school students. I don't think it's shocking or shedding any new light on problems we already know to be there. It is however something people should see and think about.

ultimateforce. You are an ultimate tool. You should be ashamed to call yourself an american. Understanding the inner workings of racial and cultural tensions is the corner stone to building a better future in America and the world. Turning your back on or dismissing any information that could help you understand these things is as good as turning your back on yourself and the future of our life on this planet. Shame shame shame.

I agree with joedirt and others that marketing is as much at blame for the outcome of this doll test as are prejudices. I'm sure if they had a fat doll and a skinny doll they'd choose the skinny one. Same for good complexion vs smallpox doll.

Interesting stuff for sure. Food for thought.

Well I am white a mix of colombian and swedish but born here and definitely considered white, blonde and green eyes. and as a little girl one christmas all i wanted was a black cabbage patch kid doll. I dont remember if there was a reasone why because i was really young but i insisted on the black doll.I grew up in the suburbs not very diverse, but my mom raised me to be accepting of everybody. i would have picked a black cabbage patch doll over any white one anyday.
PS I did get a black doll and she was my favorite!!

I agree with this as a problem of how kids view themselves, I grew up and I grew into a thicker hourglass figure, with a booty that I find gets much more appreciated by black men then white. I feel more accepted and like I fit in better then with my own culture. I mostly date black men, and transferred college from Massachusetts to Brooklyn NY which is way more diverse so who knows if I started feeling like this back then or if I just liked the doll.

*documentaries

Adding video to channels (Documentaries) - requested by Fedquip.

Chiming in to COMPLETELY disagree with mushimushi.. no, i don't think everyone is racist, and i don't think everyone naturally, accidentally, subconsciously, whateverly, makes decisions about people based on how they look or where they come from.

Sorry, but i can't stand the righteous "i know people" attitude. Other people are unknowable by dint of being OTHER people. When you think you know everything about someone, something else appears. And when you really DO know everything about someone, someone else comes along that you don't know about.

Douglas Adams who perhaps quoted another person;
You cannot know what i know because you know what you know, you cannot see what i see because you see what you see.

I couldn't give a shit what you base that on, what qualifications you have, or even if Stephen Hawking had a lovechild with Richard Dawkins, was put in a brain/age incubator, stood in front of me with a brain that had to be carried around a sack, and told me in a language i couldn't hope to understand, that i was *this way* because all humans are, i'd STILL laugh at him for being small minded enough to think he knows that much.

Bollocks to you for thinking you know ANYTHING about ANYONE.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, August 12th, 2006 4:20am PDT - promote requested by rottenseed.

Great post!

I also realized my duplicate post of this went unnoticed for over 3 months!!!
http://www.videosift.com/video/A-girl-like-me-Great-Documentary

Well done video. As they mature, every child is influenced by the prevailing cultural norm of beauty. Take those "foot-binders" in China. The children's feet are bound tight during their growth spurt, so they end up with tiny, deformed feet. When the adult women are interviewed and asked if they would rather curtail the practice they say "no, I can't imagine myself with big ugly feet."

Same with the lip disks, the neck rings, etc.

But, I think the idealistic view of a multi-cultural society interacting as one, free of stereotyping and prejudice is nearly delusional. People want desperately to retain their cultural identity. To do so, they necessarily isolate themselves, to some degree, from other cultural groups. Whether it's people of Jewish, African-American, Hispanic, or European descent, on the whole they prefer to interact with individuals of similar heritage.

Will and Ariel Durant are my favorite historians to quote, "It is not the race that makes the civilization, it is the civilization that makes the people; circumstances geographical, economic, and political create a culture, and the culture creates a human type. The Englishman does not so much make English civilization as it makes him..."

This post has been removed from the Vintage channel by channel owner swampgirl. Please review the FAQ to learn about appropriate channel assignments.

>> ^slurpeyatari:
I know there is a BET. Where is the IET,CET,GET,IAET,TET,WET? Why dont all the rest of the nations have their own television stations.


Why do we need WET when we have CMT?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'documentary, race, racial, doll test' to 'documentary, race, racial, doll test, psychology' - edited by nibiyabi

*dark *humanitarian *worldaffairs

Adding video to channels (Dark, Humanitarian, Worldaffairs) - requested by nibiyabi.

*dead

This video has been declared non-functional; embed code must be fixed within 2 days or it will be sent to the dead pool - declared dead by jonny.

eric3579 has fixed this video's dead embed code - no Power Points awarded because eric3579's points are already fully charged.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'documentary, race, racial, doll test, psychology' to 'documentary, race, racial, doll test, psychology, a girl like me' - edited by eric3579

Which doll is the nice doll has been added as a related post - related requested by eric3579 on that post.