Black doll white doll
Today in class I showed a clip from A Girl Like Me, a documentary made by a 17 year old young woman who revisits the Black Doll White Doll test. The test asks black children to choose between a white doll and a black doll, asking questions such as “which doll is the prettiest” (they pick the white doll), “which doll is the nicest” (they pick the white doll), and “which doll is the most like you” (they flounder and then pick the black doll). Watching black children struggle with those questions is very sad. I show this video in class when we talk about the relationship between perception, the self, and communication.
What always amazes me about this video is the responses that it provokes. Sometimes students completely shut down and getting them to talk is impossible. Sometimes students are shocked and they express it openly. Sometimes students get angry for a variety of reasons. Sometimes students engage in open discussion.
It also amazes me how many students (though not all), white and of color (primarily black), talk about this internalized racism as if it were in the past and that “the generation of today” is over it. They seem to miss that the documentary is only a couple of years old.
I can never predict how the conversation will go. When it’s horrible, it takes a while for the class to recover. When it goes well, the semester proves to be wonderful because it opens up the space for people to share their opinions on many other topics, both personal and political.
I’m fortunate that tonight the conversation went well. People were open and shared their opinions. That’s always encouraging and I think the semester for this class will be great.
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