Doll Test Produces Ugly Results

Horrifying & Heartbreaking Story About Black Children and Self Image/Self Esteem. The report looks at young Black women in particular.

A Young filmmaker resurrects an old legendary experiment on race, and half a century after that experiment she was able to show that nothing much has changed.

Watch the short film below entitled A Girl Like Me. The film was made by 16 year old New York student Kiri Davis (now 17).

Article

New 'Doll Test' Produces Ugly Results
by Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Washington Correspondent
Originally posted 8/16/2006

The reassuring female voice asks the child a question: “Can you show me the doll that looks bad?”

The child, a preschool-aged Black girl, quickly picks up and shows the Black doll over a White one that is identical in every respect except complexion.

“And why does that look bad?” “Because she’s Black,” the little girl answers emphatically.

“And why is this the nice doll?” the voice continues.

“Because she’s White.”

“And can you give me the doll that looks like you?”The little girl hesitates for a split second before handing over the Black doll that she has just designated as the uglier one.

This was not the 1954 doll test used by pioneering psychologist Kenneth B. Clark to help make the case for desegregation in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision outlawing segregated public schools. Rather, it was a doll test duplicated in Harlem, N. Y., last year, more than a half-century after Brown. To the chagrin of parents and psychologists across the nation, the results were unchanged.

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