54 years later, can we pass the “Doll Test”
by Jesse Pohlman
Published: April 20, 2008
In 1954, an experiment was undertaken wherein black children were given two dolls, one black and one white, and were asked a series of questions as to which was good, bad, ugly and other such moral judgments. Overwhelmingly, the answer was that the white doll was “good” and the black doll was “bad.” This test was partially responsible for the outcome of Brown vs Board of Education, and social critics were relentless in their argument that this test was indicative of a crucial failure in American society.
According to a video provided by MSNBC.com, things haven’t changed one bit.
Initially, one could think that the test itself is flawed. A critic might argue that simply asking for one-word answers as to which doll is “good” or “bad” is a false dilemma; if the child had said the white doll was “evil” one could claim that the child was being fed racist propaganda. Perhaps more poignantly, the situation is indeed a “lose/lose” as many children are simply not capable of saying “neither is bad” or “both are good” in response to the questions.
Yet despite its flaws, the test illustrated the children’s opinion of the black doll and their overwhelming preference for the white doll because of an apparent relationship between the color white and beauty. There is no explaining away that result, expect to say that there is a grand social mechanism which is indoctrinating children of all races to believe that “white is right” - and it still exists today. The only just next step for the discussion to take, therefore, is how to ameliorate the situation.
Radicals would say the answer is financial reparation for the horrid institution of slavery, which is the moral equivalent of saying, “Sorry for the institution of slavery; go shopping!” Throwing dollars at a problem has never made it disappear, while being both unjust in its purposes (in essence, bribing black people to “shut up about it”) and unfair to those who had nothing to do with the crime in question. (Many “white” families immigrated to the country after slavery was abolished - many black families as well.) Furthermore, the grim reality is that this test could be repeated today with Hispanic and Asian children and would likely yield the same results, forcing a deeper conversation than one which can be solved through money.
Equally untrue are the claims of contemporary advocates who believe that the influence of mass media will somehow put an end to our racial woes. Even if Barack Obama becomes president of the United States, the problem of racial inequality will not disappear; how could, therefore, an increased volume of “mixed” models, movie stars and television programs put a credible dent in it? Though I admit that media does have its role to play, and it is in fact unlikely that the problem of racism will ever be solved without the assistance of media outlets. But there is a seriously depressing amount of hope that shows like “Dora The Explorer” and affairs such as “Black History Month” will in and of themselves alleviate the injustices of the past.
Instead of throwing money and platitudes around as though they mean something, the best hope to recalibrate the system lies in educational and social service systems throughout the nation. While it might be said that no organization can ever have enough money, certainly it isn’t too much to ask that unnecessary military and pork-barrel spending (read: “Bridge to Nowhere”) be cut while competent management is brought to the fore. No keener insight exists into the current crisis of government mismanagement than can be seen in the pathetic response to Hurricane Katrina, after which little more needs to be said about just how effective some aspects of government are, pound for pound, dollar for dollar.
In 1954 our answers to the “Doll Test” helped Americans identify just how deeply the problem of racism had ingrained itself into society. I wonder how well we would do if a similar exam were administered today?
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April 21st, 2008 at 10:15 am
Visit http://www.ethiidolls.com to view a young company who is addressing the issue raised in the Doll Report by developing authentic African dolls.
Started by two Ethiopian born entrepreneurs, EthiDolls® develops authentic African dolls and accessories based on African women leaders from history. The dolls, books and audio CDs celebrate cultural diversity and introduce new play patterns.
EthiDolls’ mission is to develop unique dolls and related accessories, based on the lives and stories of a diverse group of historic African women leaders, that help children and adults embrace African heritage, culture and tradition, as well as teach the wonders of diversity as African culture emerges into popular consciousness.
The first collectible quality educational doll is based on the ancient legend of Makeda, The Queen of Sheba, the first female ruler of Ethiopia, the land known as “the cradle of civilization.” The storybook is beautifully illustrated by a young Ethiopian artist, and the audio CD provides a compelling narration of Queen Makeda’s rise to the throne and her legendary journey to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem.
The new doll, available the Summer of 2008, is based on Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Mother of the Asante - modern day Ghana – also known as The Gold Coast of Africa. The storybook and audio CD chronicle her remarkable life. Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa represents a true icon and a woman of distinction. Then as now, she serves as a remarkable role model who fought for the rights and dignity of her people. . Her singular act of bravery in 1900 catapulted her to international fame, and her story resonates through the ages.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:34 pm
you know call me crazy, but this doesn’t seem like it proves anything about racism what so ever. I think about comic books and tv shows and the bad guy is almost always depicted as wearing darker colors. The black night, the dark lord… the color black is just associated with evil. It has nothing to do with race, if you gave the kids two white dolls and drew a goatee on one of them, they’d probably say that one was evil too.
We don’t need a government program to teach our kids that people with facial hair can be good, we just need our kids to grow up and they’ll figure it out.
It reminds me of an episode of south park where there’s a big controversy over the town flag because it depicts a bunch of white stick figures hanging a black one. There’s this huge ridiculous controversy over how that can effect the kids, only to find out that the kids didn’t even see any thing racial about it. They just thought it depictad violence in general.