The “doll test,” conducted by Kenneth and Mamie Clark, demonstrated the psychological harm inflicted on African American children by segregation. The majority of children preferred white dolls, even when asked which doll looked most like them, and attributed positive traits to white dolls while negatively describing black dolls. This revealed the internalized racism and sense of inferiority instilled in these children by a segregated society. #internalizedracism #thedolltest #thedolltestchoosing

Doll Test: The Effects of Racism on Children In the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark designed and conducted a series of experiments known colloquially as “the doll tests” to study the psychological effects of segregation on African-American children.Drs. Clark used dolls, identical except for color, to test children’s racial perceptions. Their subjects, children between the ages of three to seven, were asked to identify both the race of the dolls & which color doll they prefer. A maj