The Psychology Book

283

See also: Elliot Aronson 244–45 ■ Muzafer Sherif 337

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

required to identify with a specific
group, and each racial group has an
implied status within a hierarchy.
That young black children preferred
the white doll showed they were
aware American society preferred
white people, and had internalized
this. Children as young as three
had expressed similar attitudes to
those of adults in their community.

The Clarks concluded that these

attitudes are determined by a mix

of influences, including parents,

teachers, friends, television, films,

and comics. Although it is very rare

for parents to deliberately teach their

children to hate other racial groups,

many subtly and unconsciously

pass on dominant social attitudes.

Some white parents, for example,

may discourage their children

from playing with their black peers,

implicitly teaching them to fear

and avoid black children.

Clark’s 1950 summary of his

research insisted that segregation

was damaging the personalities of

white and black children alike. His

expert testimony in court cases

tied into the 1954 Brown v. Board

of Education of Topeka case, which

determined that racial segregation

was unconstitutional in public

schools, contributed directly to

desegregated schooling and to the

Civil Rights Movement in America. ■

Segregation is a way

in which society tells

a group of human beings

that they are inferior.

Kenneth Clark

Kenneth Clark

Kenneth Clark was born in

the Panama Canal Zone, but

moved to Harlem, New York,

when he was five. After his

mother refused to accept a

ruling that her son would be

limited to trade or vocational

schooling, Clark was enrolled

in high school. He went on

to earn a master’s degree in

psychology from Howard

University, Washington DC,

where he met his wife. The

pair carried out research

together, becoming the first

African-American man and

woman to receive a PhD in

psychology from Columbia

University in New York City.

They also founded child

development and youth

opportunity centers in Harlem.

Clark was also the first

African-American to hold a

permanent professorship at

the City University of New

York, and to serve as the

president of the American

Psychological Association.

Key works

1947 Racial Identification and

Preference in Negro Children

1955 Prejudice and Your Child

1965 Dark Ghetto

1974 Pathos of Power

By the age of three,

children are racially

aware and already

forming prejudices.

Segregation and

social influences from

parents, teachers, playmates,

and the media lead to

children internalizing

racist attitudes.

In 1930s America, white

and even black children

showed a preference for

whiteness and a rejection

of blackness.

Who teaches

a child to hate

and fear a member

of another race?