A Child of Color in a White Supremacist Society

The Psychologically Debilitating Effects of Whiteness on Children of Color

Ever since the inception of this country, it has been much better to be white in the U.S. than pretty much anything else. While this has lasting damage on individuals of color across the nation, it has been especially detrimental for children of color, particularly Black children, growing up in this society.

This issue is particularly relevant to the colorblind society in which we live today, where many American citizens believe that racism is over. If racism is truly over, I ask why do Black men receive prison terms 20% longer than white men for the exact same crime? Or why do studies show that white people view light-skinned people of color as more reliable, more trustworthy, and generally more intelligent than darker-skinned people of color? Sarah Ahmed explains how whiteness operates today:

Becoming white as an institutional line is closely related to the vertical promise of class mobility: you can move up only by approximating the habitus of the white bourgeois body

Basically, the whiter you are, or at least appear to be, the greater your chances of success. What does this mean for children of color, who are told by this society that they are not as important? Back in the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth Bancroft Clark and his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark, created the “Black doll White doll exercise” to analyze the psychological effects of segregation on black children, in an experiment based on Maime’s Howard University master’s thesis. The Clarks used dolls that were all completely identical except for their color and showed them to Black children of varying ages. When asked which doll they preferred, the children unanimously chose the white doll. When asked which doll is “nice”, “pretty”, and “smart” the children all selected the white doll. This clearly demonstrates the extremely damaging effects whiteness has on children of color’s self worth.

However, what is whiteness in the first place? Understanding the concept may prove difficult because whiteness itself is obscure and ever-changing. In fact, powerful white people have successfully reconstructed whiteness over the course of history, utilizing it as a tool to enhance and preserve their dominance in society. A notable example is back in the 17th century during Bacon’s Rebellion when Black slaves and white indentured servants joined forces to overtake the wealthy elites in power. Though the slaves and indentured servants lost the battle, the ruling class realized class-based unity was an immediate threat that needed to be taken care of. The elites agreed upon a “divide and conquer” strategy by allowing poor white’s to now identify with them based on race rather than with slaves on issues of class.

Whiteness has not changed in the present society, it is as insidious and elusive as ever. Sarah Ahmed expresses this sentiment in her work, arguing:

“the question of whiteness as a phenomenological issue, [is] a question of how whiteness is lived as a background to experience. In so doing, I will consider what ‘whiteness’ does without assuming whiteness as an ontological given, but as that which has been received, or become given, over time.Is is important to understand whiteness because if one desires to dismantle it, they must first have a firm grasp on what it is.

Essentially, whiteness is the default for all the rules and institutions that govern our society. Everything: the primary language, state institutions, and basic societal norms all exist to support and reaffirm the cultural dominance of white supremacy. Our society is constructed in a way that legitimizes and uplifts white individuals while simultaneously degrading and invalidating individuals of color. As a result, those treated as “less than” have experienced severe psychological trauma that has lasted for generations.

Perhaps this is why a study found that white children as young as seven believe Black children experience less pain than they do? Or another study that found medical personnel less likely to provide Black and Latino children with pain medication, even when the child is experiencing severe abdominal pain? Or a third study that found white people — including children — feel less empathy toward black people — yes, including children — in pain than they do for whites experiencing pain. The list goes on.

Psychologists have recently found that anti-black sentiments among white children have not changed since the 1940’s to present day. Her study showed that while what she called “white bias” existed in both white and black children, it exists far less in black children as compared to the 1940’s. As expressed by cross-cultural psychologist Dr. Welansa Asrat, “The black kids’ self-perception has improved since the 1940s, while the white kids’ remained invested in the stereotypes.” Although black children’s esteem has imporoved over the year, the study shows the anti-black, white supremacist mindset is alive and well in today’s society. Essentially, what this means is, as a society, we can either continue allowing whiteness to dominate from the background at the expense of people, particularly children, of color, or we can choose to stand up and dismantle it head-on.