1 white doll & one black doll (speak volumes)
In the 1940s, the nation was captivated by an electrifying experiment by legendary sociologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark. They asked black children about two dolls, one white and one black. The majority — 63 percent of them — said they’d rather play with the white doll. Most said the white doll was nicer than the black doll and in the most poignant answer of all, 44 percent of the black children said the white doll looked most like them. ”It was groundbreaking in that it sort of changed the way we look at race relations,” Harvard University professor William Julius Wilson said. “Here are kids who felt that being white was more beautiful than black. And that’s pretty devastating.” Fast forward to recent times, a high-school literature class caused Kiri Davis to construct “A girl like me” an anthology with a wide range of different stories that she believed reflected the black girl’s experience. For the different chapters, she conducted interviews with a variety of black girls in her high school, and a number of issues surfaced concerning the standards of beauty imposed on today’s black girls and how this affects their self-image. She thought this topic would make an interesting film and so when she was accepted into the Reel Works Teen Filmmaking program, she set out to explore these issues. She also decided to would re-conduct the “doll test” initially conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark, which was used in the historic desegregation case, Brown vs. Board of Education. She thought that by including this experiment in her film, she would shed new light on how society affects black children today and how little has actually changed. With help from mentor, Shola Lynch, and the honesty and openness of the girls interviewed, she was able to complete her first documentary in the fall of 2005.
That poor little girl at 4:25, the look on her face when Kiri asked her which doll looks like her.
This society has a long way to go!
The doll test is heart-breaking…
This video hits so close to home. I had issues dealing with not only the color of my skin as I was growing up, but also my nationality. Being a dark-skinned girl from Liberia was not an easy fit during the early 80′s and 90′s. Though we have come a long way, unfortunately, there are still reckless speech and behavior from others that I deal with today. I remember so well as a child, the name of choice that was given to me was “African Booty Scratcher”. I would be asked silly questions by other children about having electricity or running water; hunting lions and tigers for dinner; and sleeping in huts. I would always remind those asking the questions to not equate all of Africa to what is seen on television. The thing that really bothers me today is the following comment made by adults: “You are pretty to be dark-skinned…” What is that supposed to mean?! Is it unusual to find an attractive dark-skinned person or are we not supposed to be attractive? I just don’t take that comment as a compliment. It is very offensive to me. I’m so sure that light-skinned people aren’t told the same thing. This video is bittersweet. Bitter due to the fact that it shows the internal ignorance amongst our race. Sweet, because it is shedding light on the problem and it gives us an opportunity to make a change.