I'm rewriting and researching additional notes for last week's ethnic studies lecture.
"The Clarks' doll experiments grew out of Mamie Clark's master's degree thesis. They published three major papers between 1939 and 1940 on children's self perception related to race. Their studies found contrasts among children attending segregated schools in Washington, DC versus those in integrated schools in New York. 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 the children gave the color "white" attributes such as good and pretty, but "black" was qualified as bad and ugly. They viewed the results as evidence that the children had internalize racism caused by being discriminated against and stigmatized by segregation."
For some strange reason, the portion which I have purposely bolded made me tear up a little. I don't know why I'm so emotional atm. ):
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I watched a movie in class last year that had a recording of this exact study... it was really sad :( watching the kids pick the white dolls, and then saying that the black ones were 'bad' .. D: humans can be so cruel.
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