Doll Test-The Effects of Racism

A video showing the “Doll Test”, measures children’s attitudes about which race is considered pretty, ugly, good and bad. This test is a psychological experiment designed in the 1940s to test the treatment felt by African American children caused by prejudice and discrimination. Majority of the children considered the darker baby doll as “bad” and “ugly” while the lighter baby doll was considered “pretty” and “good”. One child stated that the reason that the baby doll was bad was because “he is all black” and the reason the other baby doll is good because “he has blue eyes”. This is a prime example of prejudice. These children had preconceived notions and stereotypes of what each baby doll represented. Prejudice “manifests in attitudes about an individual but is based on our ideas about the group to which that individual belongs” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 29). It is unfair and by the look on the minority children faces in the video, they were disappointed. A child with the same complexion as the dark baby doll stated, “you offended me because you called me black and because other kids have offended me with meanness”. We learn to sort people into categories/stereotypes and are “socialized to perceive and value these categories differently” (Sensoy & DiAngelo,29).

References:

Sensoy, O, & DiAngelo,R.(2012). Chapter 3: Prejudice and Discrimintaion. In Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in socail justice education. Teachers College Press.