A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of law for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. The impact of their research is evident in the court's unanimous decision, as written by Chief Justice Earl Warren: "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. A child accepts as early as six, seven or eight the negative stereotypes about his own group." It is clear that the Negro child, by the age of five is aware of the fact that to be colored in contemporary American society is a mark of inferior status. Samples of the children's responses illustrated that they viewed white as good and pretty, but black as bad and ugly.Ĭlark and Clark concluded that many Black children at the time (1939-1950) "indicate a clear-cut preference for white and some of them evidence emotional conflict when requested to indicate a color preference. The Clarks found that Black children often preferred the white doll and drawing, and frequently colored the line drawing of the child a shade lighter than their own skin. They also asked children to color line drawings of children with the color that most closely matched their own skin color. Using drawings and dolls of black and white children, these researchers asked Black preschool and elementary school children to indicate which drawing or doll they preferred and which drawing or doll looked most like them.
In their groundbreaking studies, Kenneth and Mamie Clark investigated black children's racial identification and preference.
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