106: Playing With Dolls, To End Segregation – with journalist Tim Spofford

Are concepts of race and racism so embedded in our culture, that kids as young as 3 have a racial identity? How do environment and family dynamics impact a child’s perceived sense of self? These were just some of the questions a husband-and-wife team of psychologists asked during their groundbreaking investigation of the racial formation of young Black children. During the 1940s, Kenneth and Mamie Clark recorded the negative impacts of segregation through a series of studies and experiments which came to be known as the “Doll Tests.” A student would choose between a Black doll and a White one when asked a series of questions, like “Which doll is the good doll?” or “which doll is the pretty doll?” Most Black children chose White dolls, and to the dismay of the Clarks, some students were upset and felt devastated after having to identify with the doll they had previously labeled as bad or ugly.  

I SEE U host Eddie Robinson candidly chats with acclaimed author, Tim Spofford, about his latest book, What the Children Told Us: The Untold Story of the Famous “Doll Test” and the Black Psychologists Who Changed the World. Spofford, who grew up in an all-white mill town in upstate New York, shares his thoughts on why he felt the need to tell the full story of this pioneering couple – whose research, scholarship and activism played a critical role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which declared the infamous “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional. He also offers up insight on how today’s generation of children would perform if given the same doll tests from back in the day.