The video was very interesting because it showed the reality of racial discrimination. Children were good subjects for this social examination because they are not quite socialized enough to hold back their opinions. They spoke exactly what they meant unfiltered, and their opinions reflected what their parents were teaching them. The majority of the children assigned the negative attributes to the darker skinned children and the positive traits to the lighter skinned. This was the most common pattern, but a few children broke from the common pattern. The few children explained to the adult that all the children were equal and that what is on the inside, a person’s personality and beliefs, that really counts and determines self worth. It was sad that only a minority of the children thought that everyone was equal, something our society preaches but does not follow. The stigmas and stereotypes around race and the color of your skin are so deeply rooted in our culture that even young children are expressing negative mindsets toward a certain spectrum of color. It is so ingrained in our culture that the results barely changed from the original experiment half a century ago. The children in the experiment learned our cultural beliefs about skin color very likely from their parents. Most parents today preach about how everyone should have equal rights, but their behaviors toward the different colors of people tell the true story. For example, a woman and her daughter may be walking on the sidewalk and pass a person of a different color than them. She clutches her purse, thinking that she may get pickpocketed. Her child sees her mother’s action and bases her own actions and beliefs off of what she just saw, and for children, very often what they see becomes law because it is a tangible learning experience. Little actions like that shape our personal thoughts, especially about others, and for children, ‘do as I say, not as I do’ is too hard of a concept to grasp for it to actually take root. aardvark123
Aardvark123, that was a very interesting way of viewing the video. I really agree with you when you used the classic, ‘do as I say, not as I do,’ line that a lot of parents say to their children. We try to teach the new and younger generations about treating all people equally and to not judge them on the color of their skin. However, racial biases and prejudices are placed in our society even when we try to teach against them. Even on television, we primarily see white people playing the main characters in the movies. Though we see a lot more diversity in the cinemas nowadays, there is still a gap. Naturally, as younger kids, we want to look just like our favorite main characters and act just as they do. Check123
I agree completely that our society preaches something that they do not truly mean or do not follow through with. It is really upsetting that children that young see even the color of their skin being an issue. They all answered that the white was better and smarter. To see children that are so young answer that way is really sad. I also agree with your point about the mother and a child walking down the street. Children copy almost everything their parents do. So therefor parents are making race of different people are widespread problem. It is something that needs to be changed and worked on. Litv123
In the video, we got to see how children view different races. Though we try to teach our children about caring about what is on the inside rather than the outside, there is still evidence of a racial bias among us. The experiment used children as their subjects because at a young age, we do not have our “filters” developed yet. When we are older, we know what the societal norms are and we know what and what not to say around certain people. In class, we learned that life influences us before we are even born, meaning that society determines who we are to grow up with and determines how we act and what class we are a part of. Typically, we live in a neighborhood full of people that looks just like we do and are a part of the same class as us. Even in school and at work, there is typically not a lot of racial diversity that exposes us to people with different ethnicities and background than us. With that being said, we all have a subconscious racial bias that steers us towards people that look like us and act like us. I thought it was fascinating how the African American children normally indicated the light skinned drawing to be better than the darker skinned drawing. I think this indicates the gap we have in different races. In the news, we are typically hearing about problems about non-white racial communities. Even in the movies, we are prominently seeing lighter skinned people played as the main character. Children are taking what they see on television and are subconsciously creating a hierarchy of people that have different races and ethnicities. I think that we need to try to try and eliminate the perceptions that are formed within us in order to terminate subconscious racial biases. Check123
You are so right. Even when we are teaching our children about how we should all be equal, we still have a racial bias that has been influenced by personal experience or the media. I agree with you in that it was quite interesting that the darker skinned children agreed with the lighter skinned children over that they believed lighter skin was more beautiful. You would think that due to societal pressures, you would align your beliefs to value the skin colors of the people you grew up with. Normally, those people are of the same race as you. This is evidence to suggest that our culture has a value that lighter skin is considered more beautiful. It does not mean it is true. Everything is all relative, meaning the racial bias is a societal issue, not a fact. aardvark123
This study shows how children unknowingly have a racial bias. They think that light skin looks better and does better than dark skinned kids. One girl even said that she thinks the color of her skin is disgusting because she does not like the color brown. This girl learned it from someone, maybe a classmate or teacher or even a parent, but I know that she did not come up with that on her own. These kids are too young to have these racial inferiorities thought on their own. Kids most often repeat what they have been told, which means that someone around them has told them that lighter skinned people are better than darker skinned people. There were a few kids who did not see the differences in the dolls and said that everyone was equal or that they did not have a preference. It was also really interesting that the way the kids thought that lighter skin color was better stayed with them for years. It is sad how their thoughts about skin color and how it relates to them and their classmates never dramatically progressed. I wish there were more people out there who saw skin color as equal and not one race being superior or inferior. There should be more acceptance of racial diversity and the thought that all skin colors are the same. To a certain extent we are all racist. It is easy to come up with racial slurs for every skin color out there. In the south, there is still a lot of tension between the whites and blacks. In a classroom there will be black kids sitting on one side and white kids sitting on the other, but this happens by choice not because it is mandated by law. I remember my first day of college in Mississippi I sat on the right side of the room and I was one of the first five people in there. Apparently it was the black side of the room and I could feel the judgement from the other white people in that class. They would give me weird looks or wispier to their friends and then look at me while they whispering. I stayed in that seat the rest of the semester and ignored ever look in my direction. sunflower123
That is awesome that you stood your ground and did not let the segregation get to you in Mississippi. Culture does draw related groups together, but the fact that they laughed and whispered when you sat on the “black side” of the room is terrible. In 1954, Brown vs. Board declared it unconstitutional for public schools to establish separate schools for black and white students. It is sad that in the twenty first century we have not come further towards racial equality. You brought up such an accurate point that people don’t just make this stuff up on their own, they learn it from somewhere. Therefore, it is all of our responsibility to influence kids in the right way. -Chameleon123
As you said the prejudices stayed with the children as they got older and clearly in your experience those prejudices stuck with people even as they enter college. I also didn't consider that someone would must have told that little girl that brown is "nasty". Possibly she sees that the majority of Barbies or dolls are blonde and white or the characters on the tv shows that she likes are solely white. I think that if there was more representation on the t.v. both races would interact more positively with each other. Obviously that is not the complete solution but certainly something worth trying. - Glass123
Sunflower123, I agree with you when you say that we are all racist to a certain degree. I love that you said that because most people would not admit that but it is true. We all have our stereotypical thoughts about some other race in the world. I do love that little story you threw in at the end. I would of done the exact same thing if I was in your situation. The fact that the room was segregated like that is dumb within itself. Getting up and switching spots would of only given the others what they wanted. Do what you know is right, no matter how anyone else may treat you. Scuba123
The fact that you witnessed racial segregation in Mississippi today blows my mind. I commend you for standing your ground though. It must have been hard. I lived in Tennessee about twenty years ago. I worked there and did not attend school. I did not notice any more racial segregation there than what I had saw here in Illinois. I do like your views and your interpretations of the video. The fact that you said we are all racist to an extent is an interesting statement. I have had conversations with my uncle in the past about the same subject. I have made the same statement to him that you have made. Diver 123
In the video it is demonstrating how prevalent this problem is throughout our country. These children are very young and age and are identifying which child is better and which one is worse. The children point to the darker doll and even at one point name her as the ugly child and the dumb child. I believe this video is an example of social stratification because of the way the children are ranking the different colors. It is really sad to see how this is a problem worldwide and that is it happening with children that young. I think it is especially sad how this plays out even in the classroom. The student stated that the teacher wouldn't like the child because of their skin color. It is really sad how stereotypes like that affect our culture every single day. For young children to point at these pictures and state that they aren't as good as the white children is really sad. I don't think that most people see that as a problem. This is something that needs to be fixed worldwide. Skin color does not define you or make you the person that you are. Skin color should define no one and should never be an issue. The fact that it is such a wide issue is really sad. I think racial bias is something that is very prevalent throughout the country and the different places you go the worse it gets. However that doesn't mean that it isn't a problem worldwide. Also it isn't just black and white it is of every different race. No one should ever think that being white makes your superior or a better person, because its simply because it does not. I understand that it has gotten better but it needs to be fixed completely. I hope one day the color of the skin of someone does not matter. Litv123
I think it is especially important to note how in schools especially, children believe they are viewed as lesser human beings due to the color of their skin. Schools are supposed to be safe environments for children to learn and grow, when racial inequality should be the last thing a child should have to worry about while trying to get an education. Teachers, parent, and peers can try as hard as they'd like to eliminate the social prejudices that exist within schools, both public and private, but there will always be those individuals that try to demean minorities or individuals of different skin colors in order to make themselves feel better about their own self.-MrG123
This video outlines a study that was performed to assess the issue of racial bias. The results from this study were shocking. Over seventy percent of the older black children said that children do not like the darkest shades of skin. Over sixty one percent of the younger black children said the same thing. It may be easy for some people to say that racism is not an issue in our country maybe because we had a black president or because some people do not witness it in their everyday lives because they live in segregated areas where they only interact with one race. This however is simply a lack of awareness because once a person examines the ethnocentric attitudes that our society holds, it becomes quite clear that racism is still very much among us today. It broke my heart when the young black children chose the darkest skin shade as uglier and less intelligent than the lighter skinned child. Society has taught the younger generation this lie through the way we act and talk, just as the generation before ours taught us the same biases. If we let this cycle continue, racial bias will never be eliminated. These young black children are still ranking themselves as less than the white children and it is concerning because of what we learned in class. If you are told you are something enough, you will take on the role. These black children may grow up to believe they are not as capable as white people if these racial biases are not addressed and eliminated. We have come very far in racial equality over the years but not everyone is at the same level. The older generations tend to have more racial bias due to their culture, and the younger people tend to have less. However if we ignore the issue it will not go away. We need make a point of teaching the next generation racial equality. -Chameleon123
That is a great point about people using our black president as a scapegoat almost in hopes to support the claim that racism is not an issue in our country. I definitely agree that these racist ideas are encrypted in people's minds through a cycle. It is sorta like monkey see monkey do. While there isn't legal ranking or segregation anymore, people still carry these prejudices and pass them on. You are so right about ignoring the issue. I am happy that ICC requires sociology 110 because this class really opens eyes to new perspectives. But, this class wouldn't be as eye opening to us now if we had learned these things at a younger age. The video even said that most kids tend to keep their racial biases with them. I think if we really want improvement we will incorporate this into the education of all ages. -M&M123
This study demonstrates how prejudice and discrimination affects the self concept of young black children. Over half of the black kids thought that the pictures of black children were seen as negative things. It was so sad to see black children devalue themselves. They look at the pictures of the kids who looks like them and they think that kid is ugly or dumb. This study proves black children are being set up for failure because they believe that they there is an inherent problem with the way they look. This is the vicious circle we were talking about in class. The kid is taught through media and experience that they are lesser than. This is prejudice and discrimination which is Stage 1 of the vicious cycle. The rest of the vicious cycle will play out over and over throughout their lives if nothing changes for the better. It’s so shocking to see young kids who can barely form coherent sentences have these biases already. This study reminds me of the labeling theory and stigma from the deviance chapter. Stigma is defined as a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person’s self concept and social identity. I think the black children developing a very powerful negative self concept of themselves. One of the girls says “brown looks very nasty for some reason, but I don’t know what reason that’s all” she is probably around five years and she is already extremely self deprecating towards her own appearance. It like the labeling theory as well expect they haven’t done anything bad to receive the certain label they were just born a darker skin tone. Doctor Spencer concludes that “parents have to re frame what their children experience” and “we are still living in a society where dark things are devalued and light things are valued” proving that parents and educators have the responsibility to prevent children from perpetuating prejudices. - Glass123
I completely agree how sad it was to see such young children devalue themselves. I bet that they do not even know how to read yet, but for some terrible reason they've been taught that they are lesser than whites. And your so right with your quote about the girl who doesn't know why she feels that dark skin is nasty, she just does. It goes to show that these young children have no idea what they are saying when they say it. They are just repeating something someone has told them. I also agree that it is part of the educators job to teach these kids that skin color doesn't matter. You nailed the cycle system as well. Unfortunately, you can't have prejudice without discrimination. It is a sad world we live in. sunflower123
This test displayed just how important it is that the children we bring into the world today understand equality and beauty. Many of the children in this study saw themselves, as colored children, as less than or not as good as white children. Somehow this idea is being put into these children’s minds and it needs to stop. This could have the effect of a self-fulfilling prophecy on the students, in which because they believe they are destined to be worse based on their skin tone, they don’t try as hard. If we encourage children of all skin tones that they each have the same potential to be the best, then the results will change. There is a lot of power that comes with words. One little girl in particular said that she did not like her brown skin, and that she would rather be white. She even referred to brown skin as gross. This shows that these kids are also being taught that part of beauty is being white. We have learned that culture defines what beauty is. It is imperative that we start to change the way that society sees black people, or anyone who isn’t white. The color of your skin should not have any effect on how beautiful you are. As we let little kids listen to this idea that they are already less beautiful than everyone else just because of their skin, we are setting them up to have low-self esteem and low self-worth. Raising kids who believe that based on their ascribed status they are not as capable of success, beauty, or skills leads to more deviance. A lot of this deviance is negative. It can lead to stuff like stealing because they are told they can’t make as much money, cheating because they are are taught they can’t be as smart, or doing anything else to try to achieve things they may have been able to if someone had told them that they are just as human as everyone else. -M&M123
First of all, I applaud that first sentence. Kids need to be brought up in the world of equality to make this country, or this entire planet for that matter, a better place. I agree with the sentence you said with “if they believe they are destined to do bad, then they won’t try as hard”. I’ve taken two psychology classes where that was repeated numerous times. Because in the mind of a child, if I’m destined to fail, what is even the point of trying. The part with the girl calling her skin tone ugly really opened my eyes on the matter. The fact that someone put that knowledge in her head is pretty low. rosethorns123
The video is about children being biased. Even if it is just a small amount, studies show that it is in fact present. Even in black children they say, not just white kids, but the numbers are still far less than white children. The study has five drawing lined up, each one a different skin tone. So the woman doing the test asked the young girl (a girl of color) which drawing was white, and she of course points to the drawing of the white child. Suddenly it takes a really sad turn when she is asked to point at the “ugly child” and the little girl points to the drawing of the black child. And when asked to point to the pretty child she points to the drawing of the white child. This definitely took me by surprise when she even asked that question, and then broke my heart to see a child choose which drawing is ugly or pretty when they all look the same. The fact that a child has that biased knowledge that for some reason darker skin tone means the person is uglier, it’s really sad. What if she grows up thinking that she’s uglier than the lighter skin-toned kids in her classes? Thankfully the next child has some reasoning to her and states that skin tone doesn’t matter in that context, she deserves some kind of reward for that honestly. When the little boy says that he would like all of the different kids in his class, that warmed me up inside. But then that warmth is quickly replaced by the next kid. She starts talking about how she doesn’t like the color of her skin tone because it’s dark. And what's sad about this is, she has to have gotten that idea from someone. Someone had to have put it into that child’s head that darker skin is uglier than lighter skin, which of course is one-hundred percent false! rosethorns123
It truly breaks my heart that in today's world, black children especially view themselves as lesser or ultimately of less importance due mainly to the color of their skin. They have been taught this from generation to generation, learned it through history, and seen it on the television sets within their households. It is a problem that never seems to go away in America, not to mention a plethora of other countries as well. Perhaps it's the everlasting, condescending racism that still exists throughout the world even with the elimination of slavery through most nations. Or maybe it's just that these black children were raised to believe that they are lesser human beings than the rest of us. Either way it is devastating to see the effects society has on the black outlook on life. Most children in the video pointed to the lightest color on the page as that of one with the most respect. After all our country has fought for, protested for, and lived through one would think that such prejudices would be eliminated entirely from the nation's psyche. WRONG! Regardless of what anybody tells you racism is still alive and well in America today and sadly shows no signs of disappearing in the near future. I do hope for the sake of equality across the world that the equal rights movement will continue to expand and grow across the board from nation to nation, race to race, and find a silver lining to the stigma of racial connotations. No one race is better than the other, and we shall not allow the pigmentations on any of our skins to define who we truly are as people, human beings, or our capabilities in life. For right now racism cannot be eliminated but it can be fought against.-MrG123
This video looks at race biases in children ages 5 to 10. They are given pictures of skin tones and asked questions such as: "Which child is ugly?" and "Show me the child you would like as a classmate." It is very children at a young age are acquiring a racial bias from the society we are raising them in. We say that we are a nondiscriminatory nation but more than half of young children are admitting to a bias against black people. 70% of black children said that most children would think that a black skin tone would look bad on a boy or a girl. 61% of children also said that most children don't like the darker skin tone. There is still a racial bias in our world today, the evidence shows it. Now, granted, the bias of African Americans has gotten much better and continues to get much better as the years go on but we would be lying to ourselves if we said it still wasn't a problem today. One of the girls even said she wanted to be a lighter skin tone. She said this because sometimes she feels ugly with her brown skin tone and wants to be prettier, or lighter. I was very surprised when I heard this. I would hope that all children saw themselves as beautiful, no matter their skin tone. Skin tone does not define beauty and nor should it ever define beauty. Beauty is defined from within. Unconsciously, we are putting primarily white people in positions of importance or positions of beauty. I think this is where children are getting these racial biases. The media is consistently using white people to define beauty. Most main actors are white along with covers of newspapers. When was the last time you saw an African American on the cover of a magazine? Scuba123
I found the video very disturbing. To think that a child could devalue themselves at such a young age due to the color of their skin. The children were looking at a drawing of five kids all identical except for the shade from tan to dark brown they were. They were asked questions like point to the child that look ugly or dumb and more than less the children pointed to the darker or darkest child. On the flip side when the children were asked point to the good looking or smart child they pointed to the lighter shade drawing. This shows that racial discrimination starts at a young age. The racial bias of the lighter drawing looking better and smarter and the darker drawing looking ugly and dumb is disturbing. The age of the children being interviewed is good because they are at the age where they don’t know to censor themselves. This makes me wonder, is society forming their thoughts at such an early age? Or are they learning this at home or even school? The good thing about the interviews is there were some children that didn’t point to a drawing when asked questions like what child looks bad, what child looks good, or which child do you want as a classmate? They pretty much explained that color wasn’t an issue with those questions. The sad part of the video is there was a girl that said that she thinks her color of brown looked nasty and she didn’t even know why she thought that. We as a nation have come along way from segregation to even having our first African American President. We still have a very long way to go though. Another disturbing statement from the video is that most kids between the ages of five through ten their attitudes towards their racial bias does not change much. So the main question is how do we break the chain and get over the racial biases out there? Diver 123
I agree with the sentiment that these children don't know how to censor themselves. I think the second child interviewed showed the most maturity - he was able to see beyond skin color and realize that any of the dolls were likely to be good friends. Even though these children will grow to better control their emotions, there will still be lasting effects on them due to this longstanding belief that they were inferior to other students simply based on their skin color. As you said, the issue of racial bias is very complex and will prove a tough chain to break. -dday123
I feel you 100 %, the way these children felt about themselves was upsetting. Children shouldn't feel uncomfortable to live in their own skin and the fact that they feel like an oddball at a young age is disgusting. I feel like children are learning this from classmates who are learning this from their parents. African American students shouldn't feel like they need to change their skin to fit into society. They should feel just as equal to any other student in the classroom well society. I also agree with your questions and i feel like they need to be answered sooner or later. Dancer 123
Black children have some bias toward whiteness than white children. Black children feel that they are dumb and ugly. Black children feel that the white children are smart and pretty, because they are light skin. This bias between light skin and dark skin has been going on for ages. In the video a little girl stated that brown looks nasty at times, that she would prefer to be a lighter color. On child thought that some adults may like the darker child and some may not like the darker child. More than 70% of the older black children chose the darkest skin tone for what looks bad on a boy. More than 61% of the younger black children chose the two darkest shades of who people don’t like. For the ugly child, more than 57% of the younger black children shoes the two darkest shades. This research that was done amongst the children shows that bias towards white is still very much part of our culture. I found it sad watching this video hearing how the black children felt about themselves, but I felt it was funny at the same time because how do these young children know the difference between who’s ugly and who’s not. Researchers have found that between the ages of 5 to 10 years old their ideas don’t change as far as bias. Like some the children stated within the video, I feel that it shouldn’t matter what color you are, what should matter is the person you are in the inside. Most people can’t get pass the color of one’s skin. Researchers have shown that the stereotypical messages are the pattern to this bias. With that being said, you as a society need to instill in one another that our race should not matter. I know it’s easier said than done, but I wish that we can all get on one accord and stop with the foolishness. Rendezvous123
In this video, Anderson Cooper covers a research study that shows racial bias present among American youth. In this study, students were asked to associate various traits with an array of skin colors; the results showed that they had a bias against darker skin tones. Another new, interesting point about these findings was the fact that individuals of the same race maintain the same opinions and biases as they age. This has serious implications for the future of racial stratification in America. As the video notes, how could a nation that elected Barack Obama hold these serious biases? There are several explanations for why this might be so. The initial racial bias amongst the youngest demographics can be explained by societal factors in the United States structured eurocentric characteristics. Even media geared towards children - books and dolls, for example - feature characters with these traditionally white characteristics coupled with limited diversity. However, a more interesting trend is that this bias does not change as children grow older. This is a testament to the true power of the media, even when this racial stigma is directly contested by the children’s families. Of course, this bias is easy to understand among white students, whose parents may not see the purpose of teaching against these biases. This is due to the fact that society’s power is more felt by those on the margins - a white family may see race as playing no factor in the development of their livelihoods. An african american family, however, will constantly be pulled by structural racism and may live under its pull for the duration of their lives. Above all, this study is a testament of the power of common societal stigmas, despite the efforts of families and peers to counteract this power. -dday123
This is true I never really thought about how the media might affect the views of the younger generation, but after thinking about, the media definitely plays a major role in the way a lot of people views others. The media may control the way a person dresses or even how they vote but I’ve never realized how people that are on tv shows and movies ect are not very dark unless they’re depicting a certain character. Not only do children learn about their heritage from family but they being exposed to it everyday when they go to schools or to the stores because they’ll look to maybe the white children and see the nice clothes and shoes and yearn for that themselves but being that their parents social standing is not that of the more wealthy family they in turn will start to judge themselves taking on feelings of unworthiness and thinking they’re skin color is the problem. Benoodles123
In the video, it depicted one ethnic groups ethnomethodology on who is perceived as superior based on skin color alone. It shows how most of the African American children felt that to have a lighter skin tone meant that you were the better child and that you were smarter than a child with darker pigmentation. It was interesting that the children who were fairer skinned than the darker skinned children didn’t see an issue and basically felt like people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standings. The social gap for these group of children is far more small than the social gap between the dark skinned children with the other children. These children learned at a young age to stereotype different races with ascribed statuses. One of the little girls that stood out to me was the little one who said her skin is ugly because it’s black and that basically if she was able to she’d change everything about her because in her eyes she’s not beautiful. It appears that she along with many of the other children assert a negative connotation with dark skin and essentially prejudice against their own race. The case Brown v. Board of Education made great strides to allow children/ people of all colors to be able to attend the same school and learn in the same class without being segregated to one area of the building, but as one can see, discrimination is still prevalent amongst our youth. Stereotyping is real and people may not even realize that they’re being prejudice against people let alone people of the same background as them and it only sets up our children to notice all the negatives ideations set upon one ethnic group without even giving them a chance to show who they are or their capabilities in life. Benoodles123
You know it really bothered me watching this video due to the fact that children, young African american children feel ugly in their own skin. Its sad to know that African american children at a young age feel like Caucasian kids don't like them or want to be around them due to the skin they're born with. I don't think people are born racist i feel like they learn from their parents. Kids don't know the difference from right or wrong they are taught. It only takes one parent or kid to tell a kid of color they don't matter and it will affect them for while. In the video it showed a lot of racial discrimination and how it affected children of color but the real question is what are they going to do to change the way African Americans feel in there skin ? how will they make them feel like they are at the top with the Caucasian students? These are questions that need answered. As a society we are getting better with socially accepting everyone and making sure everyone in the class rooms feel apart of it. Our country is to diverse to have people discriminating other cause of their race or gender. Really gender stratification ties into this as well men thinking that are better than women. We are taught the ways we live whether it comes from tv, our parents, or even they way the teacher makes you feel. We aren't born into a place full of hatred we learn to be hateful and we learn to feel like we are better than everyone else. If we can teach the younger generations to care for everyone equally we don't have a problem but sadly in today's society we still have those who believe African Americans don't deserve the same rights as Caucasians and those parents will have the world's most hateful children. Dancer 123
I am somewhat relieved that I am not the only person who was bothered by this video. It makes me want to hug them and tell them how beautiful and smart they are. I agree with you in the fact that no one is born racist. I believe that people come to have racial biases because of their environment, family, culture, religion, and other factors. For the people who watched this video, I hope that they will try their best to destroy these stereotypes. All children should feel like they are beautiful and smart enough to do anything. Children are dreamers. I slightly disagree that we are not born into a hateful place. Sometimes children can be born into a racist or a sexist household, for example. Then the children are being raised in a hateful environment. -softball_savvy123
I was also extremely disturbed by this video. The idea that kids so young are able to pick up on this sort of thing is both intriguing and terrifying at the same time. I agree with you that people are not born racist; this seems to be a learned trait, either from society or from family. While I agree with you to a certain extent, I do not believe that simply teaching the younger generations to care for everyone equally will solve all of the racial problems. They should not have to be taught; they should learn from the examples set forth by their peers and those in authority. -ThreeTwo123
Honestly, my mouth dropped several times when I watched this video. I was flabbergasted by some of the children's responses. I did not realize, which may sound ignorant, that a decently big majority of children have the same racial biases as some adults. These children learned stereotypes and racial stratification from a very early age. While I am not a parent, I believe it is important to raise children in a way that will show them all types of beauty and to try to demolish all stereotypes between race (and other stereotypes). I have witnessed racism throughout my childhood. Not from my parents, but from my grandparents on my dad's side. They do not talk about it too often, but when I was younger, my cousin had an African American friend over and they were clearly disgusted. They dislike when their waiter or waitress are not Caucasian as well. I am glad that my dad did not follow in his parents footsteps or else I would have been raised that way too. It is weird to make that there is still so much segregation even though our society has made it such a long way. Some of those children had racial biases and were racist without even realizing it. They need to be taught that it does not matter what you look like and that what matters is what is on the inside. As corny as it sounds, it is true, and important for our society to come to terms with. That should be a society norm instead of racial biases. Stereotyping happens often in our society without people even realizing it. If children see these stereotypes growing up, it will only allow them to see negative ideations. Children should be able to not grow up like that so that they can see who those people really are and that they are not very different from each other. I am not sure if discrimination will ever cease to exist, but I hope we can make it much less common in our society and youth. If our youth disagrees with these racial biases, then they will teach their own children that, and it can be passed down from generation to generation so ideally we can have a society without any stereotypes, segregation, and racial biases. -softball_savvy123
This study amazed me. It broke my heart to see children at such a young age identify their own skin color as less than another skin color. It is sickening to think that after all this country has been through that subconscious racism still exists in many people today. I took an adolescent psychology course last year and we read a study that looked into hidden biases held by teachers that most, if not all, of them did not even realize that they held. For so long, our society has told us that non-Caucasian students do not achieve as well academically as their Caucasian counterparts, so teachers began teaching them as if they were less smarter than the Caucasian students. It was a sort of brutal self fulfilling prophecy. The study also found that African-American students were also much less likely to move up out of the lower academic track. I hope and pray that our country becomes more accepting. It infuriates me to think that children are still being looked at with implicit biases. Although I do not think that this is a problem that will simply go away in a couple of years, I do believe that if our society works hard at establishing equality in race, the future generations will surely benefit from our work. In one portion of the video, Cooper asks a girl which color person adults do not like. The girl promptly pointed to the darkest colored person on the board and, when asked to explain why, stated that “Maybe some adults do [like dark], but maybe some of them don’t.” This is extremely interesting to me because this young girl has not simply been indoctrinated by parents or friends that the white people hate you; she was able to discern that some people did like dark people, while others did not. -ThreeTwo123
It is interesting that since our society looks at non-Caucasian people to achieve less academically, teachers conform and teach children based off of this. I think that this could be very true in some cases. It's important that a teacher practices not being biased in front of her students because she is their home away from home and it raising a new generation. In the video, one of the adult woman says that kids develop starting at the age of five. This means that a lot of small acts like calling on Caucasian children more even make students accept the bias. I think teachers have extremely influential jobs and should try harder to make that step every day towards a less biased future. -Kiwi123
Right away, a young black girl was asked to point to the smart child out of 5 different girls of all races. She points to the white girl and explains that she is smart because she's white. This means that this little girl has grown up in a society that makes a certain race seem to have this intelligent characteristic. She then goes on to say that the ugly and dumb child is the black girl. It proves that people have put a stigma on the black race and this little girl at such a young age is associating her own race with traits like dumb and ugly. A couple other kids who seem a little older answered the questions saying they didn't care what skin color the child had and the teachers shouldn't either. I think the older a child gets, the more independent their opinions are and they become more based on what they think as their own person. The little girl is still influenced by everyone around her all the time. This proves that their is a race problem in school. When another girl answered to a question of what color skin adults prefer, she said the darkest color. And then when he repeated her answer to her, she said well maybe some adults do and some don't. So, she admitted that there was a white bias and then argued it by saying it's just some of the people in the world who have it and others don't. In the video, most black children agreed with negative attributes towards the darkest color over white children, which proves that white children were more exposed to the bias. It proves that all children are raised by their parents to believe certain things because their families are what influence their opinions when they are so undeveloped. The stereotype that's put on race is slowly disappearing, although some children grow up believing one thing firmly and until they are exposed to reality and understanding a person beyond their race, they won't change their beliefs. I think that everyone's actions every day need to change and become more open minded. Especially adults who know their child is witnessing racism. They shouldn't be afraid to say it's wrong and promote less distance between races. -Kiwi123
I think that as these young black children get older, they do start to form their own opinion about the people that they are around, however I don't think the racial stigma that goes along with being black, or any minority for that matter, will ever go away. These children are taught at ages 4 and 5 that they are not smart enough or beautiful enough just because they have brown colored skin. These young children associate intelligence to the lightness of skin, but the older children realize that intelligence is not based on how light or dark your skin is. One of the older children even made the point that it's what's on the inside that matters. The video also said that the white children interviewed were less aware of the bias towards whiteness. I think once those who are light skin start to change the stigma on those who have darker skin than them, as a society we will start to see a change in racial stratification. Daisy123
This video honestly came as a shock to me. I was unaware that at such a young age these black children feel as though they are not good enough just because of their brownness. I am fully aware that there is many various forms of racial stratification in today’s society, however I didn’t realize that it began at such a young age. This doll study used the same image of a young child, but each doll had a different shade of skin from varying from very white to very dark. The intended purpose of the study was to see if young children have a bias towards whiteness. The first little girl was asked which doll was the smart child. She responded, without hesitation, the lightest colored doll. Then she was asked which child was the dumb child, and she responded with the darkest doll. The little girl completely ignored all of the colors in between, and said that the reason she chose the lightest doll as the smart child was solely because she was white. The last 5 year old girl they spoke about responded in a similar way. They asked her which skin color she liked the most, and she chose the second lightest doll. The girl said that she wanted this color skin because it was lighter than hers, and because brown is a “nasty” color. She even said she’s not sure of the reason why brown looks nasty, it just does. This is very upsetting to hear because this vibrant, young girl believes that she looks nasty because of the negative stigma we, as a society, place on minorities. It’s not just black children experiencing negative racial stigma, it is every child that doesn’t have the white skin perceived as pretty. More than 61% of the younger black children in this study said the two darkest shades looked ugly. More than half of the black youth today sees themselves as inferior because of racial stratification. In modern society, we are starting to see the narrowing of racial stratification, yet we have not even put a dent in the surface. Negative stigma needs to stop being placed on certain skin colors, cultures, and ethnicities if we want the youth of tomorrow to experience less racial stratification. Daisy123
The video was very interesting because it showed the reality of racial discrimination. Children were good subjects for this social examination because they are not quite socialized enough to hold back their opinions. They spoke exactly what they meant unfiltered, and their opinions reflected what their parents were teaching them. The majority of the children assigned the negative attributes to the darker skinned children and the positive traits to the lighter skinned. This was the most common pattern, but a few children broke from the common pattern. The few children explained to the adult that all the children were equal and that what is on the inside, a person’s personality and beliefs, that really counts and determines self worth. It was sad that only a minority of the children thought that everyone was equal, something our society preaches but does not follow. The stigmas and stereotypes around race and the color of your skin are so deeply rooted in our culture that even young children are expressing negative mindsets toward a certain spectrum of color. It is so ingrained in our culture that the results barely changed from the original experiment half a century ago. The children in the experiment learned our cultural beliefs about skin color very likely from their parents. Most parents today preach about how everyone should have equal rights, but their behaviors toward the different colors of people tell the true story. For example, a woman and her daughter may be walking on the sidewalk and pass a person of a different color than them. She clutches her purse, thinking that she may get pickpocketed. Her child sees her mother’s action and bases her own actions and beliefs off of what she just saw, and for children, very often what they see becomes law because it is a tangible learning experience. Little actions like that shape our personal thoughts, especially about others, and for children, ‘do as I say, not as I do’ is too hard of a concept to grasp for it to actually take root. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteAardvark123, that was a very interesting way of viewing the video. I really agree with you when you used the classic, ‘do as I say, not as I do,’ line that a lot of parents say to their children. We try to teach the new and younger generations about treating all people equally and to not judge them on the color of their skin. However, racial biases and prejudices are placed in our society even when we try to teach against them. Even on television, we primarily see white people playing the main characters in the movies. Though we see a lot more diversity in the cinemas nowadays, there is still a gap. Naturally, as younger kids, we want to look just like our favorite main characters and act just as they do. Check123
DeleteI agree completely that our society preaches something that they do not truly mean or do not follow through with. It is really upsetting that children that young see even the color of their skin being an issue. They all answered that the white was better and smarter. To see children that are so young answer that way is really sad. I also agree with your point about the mother and a child walking down the street. Children copy almost everything their parents do. So therefor parents are making race of different people are widespread problem. It is something that needs to be changed and worked on. Litv123
DeleteIn the video, we got to see how children view different races. Though we try to teach our children about caring about what is on the inside rather than the outside, there is still evidence of a racial bias among us. The experiment used children as their subjects because at a young age, we do not have our “filters” developed yet. When we are older, we know what the societal norms are and we know what and what not to say around certain people. In class, we learned that life influences us before we are even born, meaning that society determines who we are to grow up with and determines how we act and what class we are a part of. Typically, we live in a neighborhood full of people that looks just like we do and are a part of the same class as us. Even in school and at work, there is typically not a lot of racial diversity that exposes us to people with different ethnicities and background than us. With that being said, we all have a subconscious racial bias that steers us towards people that look like us and act like us. I thought it was fascinating how the African American children normally indicated the light skinned drawing to be better than the darker skinned drawing. I think this indicates the gap we have in different races. In the news, we are typically hearing about problems about non-white racial communities. Even in the movies, we are prominently seeing lighter skinned people played as the main character. Children are taking what they see on television and are subconsciously creating a hierarchy of people that have different races and ethnicities. I think that we need to try to try and eliminate the perceptions that are formed within us in order to terminate subconscious racial biases. Check123
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou are so right. Even when we are teaching our children about how we should all be equal, we still have a racial bias that has been influenced by personal experience or the media. I agree with you in that it was quite interesting that the darker skinned children agreed with the lighter skinned children over that they believed lighter skin was more beautiful. You would think that due to societal pressures, you would align your beliefs to value the skin colors of the people you grew up with. Normally, those people are of the same race as you. This is evidence to suggest that our culture has a value that lighter skin is considered more beautiful. It does not mean it is true. Everything is all relative, meaning the racial bias is a societal issue, not a fact. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteThis study shows how children unknowingly have a racial bias. They think that light skin looks better and does better than dark skinned kids. One girl even said that she thinks the color of her skin is disgusting because she does not like the color brown. This girl learned it from someone, maybe a classmate or teacher or even a parent, but I know that she did not come up with that on her own. These kids are too young to have these racial inferiorities thought on their own. Kids most often repeat what they have been told, which means that someone around them has told them that lighter skinned people are better than darker skinned people. There were a few kids who did not see the differences in the dolls and said that everyone was equal or that they did not have a preference. It was also really interesting that the way the kids thought that lighter skin color was better stayed with them for years. It is sad how their thoughts about skin color and how it relates to them and their classmates never dramatically progressed. I wish there were more people out there who saw skin color as equal and not one race being superior or inferior. There should be more acceptance of racial diversity and the thought that all skin colors are the same. To a certain extent we are all racist. It is easy to come up with racial slurs for every skin color out there. In the south, there is still a lot of tension between the whites and blacks. In a classroom there will be black kids sitting on one side and white kids sitting on the other, but this happens by choice not because it is mandated by law. I remember my first day of college in Mississippi I sat on the right side of the room and I was one of the first five people in there. Apparently it was the black side of the room and I could feel the judgement from the other white people in that class. They would give me weird looks or wispier to their friends and then look at me while they whispering. I stayed in that seat the rest of the semester and ignored ever look in my direction.
ReplyDeletesunflower123
That is awesome that you stood your ground and did not let the segregation get to you in Mississippi. Culture does draw related groups together, but the fact that they laughed and whispered when you sat on the “black side” of the room is terrible. In 1954, Brown vs. Board declared it unconstitutional for public schools to establish separate schools for black and white students. It is sad that in the twenty first century we have not come further towards racial equality. You brought up such an accurate point that people don’t just make this stuff up on their own, they learn it from somewhere. Therefore, it is all of our responsibility to influence kids in the right way. -Chameleon123
DeleteAs you said the prejudices stayed with the children as they got older and clearly in your experience those prejudices stuck with people even as they enter college. I also didn't consider that someone would must have told that little girl that brown is "nasty". Possibly she sees that the majority of Barbies or dolls are blonde and white or the characters on the tv shows that she likes are solely white. I think that if there was more representation on the t.v. both races would interact more positively with each other. Obviously that is not the complete solution but certainly something worth trying. - Glass123
DeleteSunflower123, I agree with you when you say that we are all racist to a certain degree. I love that you said that because most people would not admit that but it is true. We all have our stereotypical thoughts about some other race in the world. I do love that little story you threw in at the end. I would of done the exact same thing if I was in your situation. The fact that the room was segregated like that is dumb within itself. Getting up and switching spots would of only given the others what they wanted. Do what you know is right, no matter how anyone else may treat you. Scuba123
DeleteThe fact that you witnessed racial segregation in Mississippi today blows my mind. I commend you for standing your ground though. It must have been hard. I lived in Tennessee about twenty years ago. I worked there and did not attend school. I did not notice any more racial segregation there than what I had saw here in Illinois. I do like your views and your interpretations of the video. The fact that you said we are all racist to an extent is an interesting statement. I have had conversations with my uncle in the past about the same subject. I have made the same statement to him that you have made. Diver 123
DeleteIn the video it is demonstrating how prevalent this problem is throughout our country. These children are very young and age and are identifying which child is better and which one is worse. The children point to the darker doll and even at one point name her as the ugly child and the dumb child. I believe this video is an example of social stratification because of the way the children are ranking the different colors. It is really sad to see how this is a problem worldwide and that is it happening with children that young. I think it is especially sad how this plays out even in the classroom. The student stated that the teacher wouldn't like the child because of their skin color. It is really sad how stereotypes like that affect our culture every single day. For young children to point at these pictures and state that they aren't as good as the white children is really sad. I don't think that most people see that as a problem. This is something that needs to be fixed worldwide. Skin color does not define you or make you the person that you are. Skin color should define no one and should never be an issue. The fact that it is such a wide issue is really sad. I think racial bias is something that is very prevalent throughout the country and the different places you go the worse it gets. However that doesn't mean that it isn't a problem worldwide. Also it isn't just black and white it is of every different race. No one should ever think that being white makes your superior or a better person, because its simply because it does not. I understand that it has gotten better but it needs to be fixed completely. I hope one day the color of the skin of someone does not matter. Litv123
ReplyDeleteI think it is especially important to note how in schools especially, children believe they are viewed as lesser human beings due to the color of their skin. Schools are supposed to be safe environments for children to learn and grow, when racial inequality should be the last thing a child should have to worry about while trying to get an education. Teachers, parent, and peers can try as hard as they'd like to eliminate the social prejudices that exist within schools, both public and private, but there will always be those individuals that try to demean minorities or individuals of different skin colors in order to make themselves feel better about their own self.-MrG123
DeleteThis video outlines a study that was performed to assess the issue of racial bias. The results from this study were shocking. Over seventy percent of the older black children said that children do not like the darkest shades of skin. Over sixty one percent of the younger black children said the same thing. It may be easy for some people to say that racism is not an issue in our country maybe because we had a black president or because some people do not witness it in their everyday lives because they live in segregated areas where they only interact with one race. This however is simply a lack of awareness because once a person examines the ethnocentric attitudes that our society holds, it becomes quite clear that racism is still very much among us today. It broke my heart when the young black children chose the darkest skin shade as uglier and less intelligent than the lighter skinned child. Society has taught the younger generation this lie through the way we act and talk, just as the generation before ours taught us the same biases. If we let this cycle continue, racial bias will never be eliminated. These young black children are still ranking themselves as less than the white children and it is concerning because of what we learned in class. If you are told you are something enough, you will take on the role. These black children may grow up to believe they are not as capable as white people if these racial biases are not addressed and eliminated. We have come very far in racial equality over the years but not everyone is at the same level. The older generations tend to have more racial bias due to their culture, and the younger people tend to have less. However if we ignore the issue it will not go away. We need make a point of teaching the next generation racial equality. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteThat is a great point about people using our black president as a scapegoat almost in hopes to support the claim that racism is not an issue in our country. I definitely agree that these racist ideas are encrypted in people's minds through a cycle. It is sorta like monkey see monkey do. While there isn't legal ranking or segregation anymore, people still carry these prejudices and pass them on. You are so right about ignoring the issue. I am happy that ICC requires sociology 110 because this class really opens eyes to new perspectives. But, this class wouldn't be as eye opening to us now if we had learned these things at a younger age. The video even said that most kids tend to keep their racial biases with them. I think if we really want improvement we will incorporate this into the education of all ages. -M&M123
DeleteThis study demonstrates how prejudice and discrimination affects the self concept of young black children. Over half of the black kids thought that the pictures of black children were seen as negative things. It was so sad to see black children devalue themselves. They look at the pictures of the kids who looks like them and they think that kid is ugly or dumb. This study proves black children are being set up for failure because they believe that they there is an inherent problem with the way they look. This is the vicious circle we were talking about in class. The kid is taught through media and experience that they are lesser than. This is prejudice and discrimination which is Stage 1 of the vicious cycle. The rest of the vicious cycle will play out over and over throughout their lives if nothing changes for the better. It’s so shocking to see young kids who can barely form coherent sentences have these biases already. This study reminds me of the labeling theory and stigma from the deviance chapter. Stigma is defined as a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a person’s self concept and social identity. I think the black children developing a very powerful negative self concept of themselves. One of the girls says “brown looks very nasty for some reason, but I don’t know what reason that’s all” she is probably around five years and she is already extremely self deprecating towards her own appearance. It like the labeling theory as well expect they haven’t done anything bad to receive the certain label they were just born a darker skin tone. Doctor Spencer concludes that “parents have to re frame what their children experience” and “we are still living in a society where dark things are devalued and light things are valued” proving that parents and educators have the responsibility to prevent children from perpetuating prejudices. - Glass123
ReplyDeleteI completely agree how sad it was to see such young children devalue themselves. I bet that they do not even know how to read yet, but for some terrible reason they've been taught that they are lesser than whites. And your so right with your quote about the girl who doesn't know why she feels that dark skin is nasty, she just does. It goes to show that these young children have no idea what they are saying when they say it. They are just repeating something someone has told them. I also agree that it is part of the educators job to teach these kids that skin color doesn't matter. You nailed the cycle system as well. Unfortunately, you can't have prejudice without discrimination. It is a sad world we live in.
Deletesunflower123
This test displayed just how important it is that the children we bring into the world today understand equality and beauty. Many of the children in this study saw themselves, as colored children, as less than or not as good as white children. Somehow this idea is being put into these children’s minds and it needs to stop. This could have the effect of a self-fulfilling prophecy on the students, in which because they believe they are destined to be worse based on their skin tone, they don’t try as hard. If we encourage children of all skin tones that they each have the same potential to be the best, then the results will change. There is a lot of power that comes with words. One little girl in particular said that she did not like her brown skin, and that she would rather be white. She even referred to brown skin as gross. This shows that these kids are also being taught that part of beauty is being white. We have learned that culture defines what beauty is. It is imperative that we start to change the way that society sees black people, or anyone who isn’t white. The color of your skin should not have any effect on how beautiful you are. As we let little kids listen to this idea that they are already less beautiful than everyone else just because of their skin, we are setting them up to have low-self esteem and low self-worth. Raising kids who believe that based on their ascribed status they are not as capable of success, beauty, or skills leads to more deviance. A lot of this deviance is negative. It can lead to stuff like stealing because they are told they can’t make as much money, cheating because they are are taught they can’t be as smart, or doing anything else to try to achieve things they may have been able to if someone had told them that they are just as human as everyone else. -M&M123
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I applaud that first sentence. Kids need to be brought up in the world of equality to make this country, or this entire planet for that matter, a better place. I agree with the sentence you said with “if they believe they are destined to do bad, then they won’t try as hard”. I’ve taken two psychology classes where that was repeated numerous times. Because in the mind of a child, if I’m destined to fail, what is even the point of trying. The part with the girl calling her skin tone ugly really opened my eyes on the matter. The fact that someone put that knowledge in her head is pretty low. rosethorns123
DeleteThe video is about children being biased. Even if it is just a small amount, studies show that it is in fact present. Even in black children they say, not just white kids, but the numbers are still far less than white children. The study has five drawing lined up, each one a different skin tone. So the woman doing the test asked the young girl (a girl of color) which drawing was white, and she of course points to the drawing of the white child. Suddenly it takes a really sad turn when she is asked to point at the “ugly child” and the little girl points to the drawing of the black child. And when asked to point to the pretty child she points to the drawing of the white child. This definitely took me by surprise when she even asked that question, and then broke my heart to see a child choose which drawing is ugly or pretty when they all look the same. The fact that a child has that biased knowledge that for some reason darker skin tone means the person is uglier, it’s really sad. What if she grows up thinking that she’s uglier than the lighter skin-toned kids in her classes? Thankfully the next child has some reasoning to her and states that skin tone doesn’t matter in that context, she deserves some kind of reward for that honestly. When the little boy says that he would like all of the different kids in his class, that warmed me up inside. But then that warmth is quickly replaced by the next kid. She starts talking about how she doesn’t like the color of her skin tone because it’s dark. And what's sad about this is, she has to have gotten that idea from someone. Someone had to have put it into that child’s head that darker skin is uglier than lighter skin, which of course is one-hundred percent false! rosethorns123
ReplyDeleteIt truly breaks my heart that in today's world, black children especially view themselves as lesser or ultimately of less importance due mainly to the color of their skin. They have been taught this from generation to generation, learned it through history, and seen it on the television sets within their households. It is a problem that never seems to go away in America, not to mention a plethora of other countries as well. Perhaps it's the everlasting, condescending racism that still exists throughout the world even with the elimination of slavery through most nations. Or maybe it's just that these black children were raised to believe that they are lesser human beings than the rest of us. Either way it is devastating to see the effects society has on the black outlook on life. Most children in the video pointed to the lightest color on the page as that of one with the most respect. After all our country has fought for, protested for, and lived through one would think that such prejudices would be eliminated entirely from the nation's psyche. WRONG! Regardless of what anybody tells you racism is still alive and well in America today and sadly shows no signs of disappearing in the near future. I do hope for the sake of equality across the world that the equal rights movement will continue to expand and grow across the board from nation to nation, race to race, and find a silver lining to the stigma of racial connotations. No one race is better than the other, and we shall not allow the pigmentations on any of our skins to define who we truly are as people, human beings, or our capabilities in life. For right now racism cannot be eliminated but it can be fought against.-MrG123
ReplyDeleteThis video looks at race biases in children ages 5 to 10. They are given pictures of skin tones and asked questions such as: "Which child is ugly?" and "Show me the child you would like as a classmate." It is very children at a young age are acquiring a racial bias from the society we are raising them in. We say that we are a nondiscriminatory nation but more than half of young children are admitting to a bias against black people. 70% of black children said that most children would think that a black skin tone would look bad on a boy or a girl. 61% of children also said that most children don't like the darker skin tone. There is still a racial bias in our world today, the evidence shows it. Now, granted, the bias of African Americans has gotten much better and continues to get much better as the years go on but we would be lying to ourselves if we said it still wasn't a problem today. One of the girls even said she wanted to be a lighter skin tone. She said this because sometimes she feels ugly with her brown skin tone and wants to be prettier, or lighter. I was very surprised when I heard this. I would hope that all children saw themselves as beautiful, no matter their skin tone. Skin tone does not define beauty and nor should it ever define beauty. Beauty is defined from within. Unconsciously, we are putting primarily white people in positions of importance or positions of beauty. I think this is where children are getting these racial biases. The media is consistently using white people to define beauty. Most main actors are white along with covers of newspapers. When was the last time you saw an African American on the cover of a magazine? Scuba123
ReplyDeleteI found the video very disturbing. To think that a child could devalue themselves at such a young age due to the color of their skin. The children were looking at a drawing of five kids all identical except for the shade from tan to dark brown they were. They were asked questions like point to the child that look ugly or dumb and more than less the children pointed to the darker or darkest child. On the flip side when the children were asked point to the good looking or smart child they pointed to the lighter shade drawing. This shows that racial discrimination starts at a young age. The racial bias of the lighter drawing looking better and smarter and the darker drawing looking ugly and dumb is disturbing. The age of the children being interviewed is good because they are at the age where they don’t know to censor themselves. This makes me wonder, is society forming their thoughts at such an early age? Or are they learning this at home or even school? The good thing about the interviews is there were some children that didn’t point to a drawing when asked questions like what child looks bad, what child looks good, or which child do you want as a classmate? They pretty much explained that color wasn’t an issue with those questions. The sad part of the video is there was a girl that said that she thinks her color of brown looked nasty and she didn’t even know why she thought that. We as a nation have come along way from segregation to even having our first African American President. We still have a very long way to go though. Another disturbing statement from the video is that most kids between the ages of five through ten their attitudes towards their racial bias does not change much. So the main question is how do we break the chain and get over the racial biases out there? Diver 123
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiment that these children don't know how to censor themselves. I think the second child interviewed showed the most maturity - he was able to see beyond skin color and realize that any of the dolls were likely to be good friends. Even though these children will grow to better control their emotions, there will still be lasting effects on them due to this longstanding belief that they were inferior to other students simply based on their skin color. As you said, the issue of racial bias is very complex and will prove a tough chain to break. -dday123
DeleteI feel you 100 %, the way these children felt about themselves was upsetting. Children shouldn't feel uncomfortable to live in their own skin and the fact that they feel like an oddball at a young age is disgusting. I feel like children are learning this from classmates who are learning this from their parents. African American students shouldn't feel like they need to change their skin to fit into society. They should feel just as equal to any other student in the classroom well society. I also agree with your questions and i feel like they need to be answered sooner or later. Dancer 123
DeleteBlack children have some bias toward whiteness than white children. Black children feel that they are dumb and ugly. Black children feel that the white children are smart and pretty, because they are light skin. This bias between light skin and dark skin has been going on for ages. In the video a little girl stated that brown looks nasty at times, that she would prefer to be a lighter color. On child thought that some adults may like the darker child and some may not like the darker child. More than 70% of the older black children chose the darkest skin tone for what looks bad on a boy. More than 61% of the younger black children chose the two darkest shades of who people don’t like. For the ugly child, more than 57% of the younger black children shoes the two darkest shades. This research that was done amongst the children shows that bias towards white is still very much part of our culture. I found it sad watching this video hearing how the black children felt about themselves, but I felt it was funny at the same time because how do these young children know the difference between who’s ugly and who’s not. Researchers have found that between the ages of 5 to 10 years old their ideas don’t change as far as bias. Like some the children stated within the video, I feel that it shouldn’t matter what color you are, what should matter is the person you are in the inside. Most people can’t get pass the color of one’s skin. Researchers have shown that the stereotypical messages are the pattern to this bias. With that being said, you as a society need to instill in one another that our race should not matter. I know it’s easier said than done, but I wish that we can all get on one accord and stop with the foolishness. Rendezvous123
ReplyDeleteIn this video, Anderson Cooper covers a research study that shows racial bias present among American youth. In this study, students were asked to associate various traits with an array of skin colors; the results showed that they had a bias against darker skin tones. Another new, interesting point about these findings was the fact that individuals of the same race maintain the same opinions and biases as they age. This has serious implications for the future of racial stratification in America. As the video notes, how could a nation that elected Barack Obama hold these serious biases? There are several explanations for why this might be so. The initial racial bias amongst the youngest demographics can be explained by societal factors in the United States structured eurocentric characteristics. Even media geared towards children - books and dolls, for example - feature characters with these traditionally white characteristics coupled with limited diversity. However, a more interesting trend is that this bias does not change as children grow older. This is a testament to the true power of the media, even when this racial stigma is directly contested by the children’s families. Of course, this bias is easy to understand among white students, whose parents may not see the purpose of teaching against these biases. This is due to the fact that society’s power is more felt by those on the margins - a white family may see race as playing no factor in the development of their livelihoods. An african american family, however, will constantly be pulled by structural racism and may live under its pull for the duration of their lives. Above all, this study is a testament of the power of common societal stigmas, despite the efforts of families and peers to counteract this power. -dday123
ReplyDeleteThis is true I never really thought about how the media might affect the views of the younger generation, but after thinking about, the media definitely plays a major role in the way a lot of people views others. The media may control the way a person dresses or even how they vote but I’ve never realized how people that are on tv shows and movies ect are not very dark unless they’re depicting a certain character. Not only do children learn about their heritage from family but they being exposed to it everyday when they go to schools or to the stores because they’ll look to maybe the white children and see the nice clothes and shoes and yearn for that themselves but being that their parents social standing is not that of the more wealthy family they in turn will start to judge themselves taking on feelings of unworthiness and thinking they’re skin color is the problem. Benoodles123
DeleteIn the video, it depicted one ethnic groups ethnomethodology on who is perceived as superior based on skin color alone. It shows how most of the African American children felt that to have a lighter skin tone meant that you were the better child and that you were smarter than a child with darker pigmentation. It was interesting that the children who were fairer skinned than the darker skinned children didn’t see an issue and basically felt like people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standings. The social gap for these group of children is far more small than the social gap between the dark skinned children with the other children. These children learned at a young age to stereotype different races with ascribed statuses. One of the little girls that stood out to me was the little one who said her skin is ugly because it’s black and that basically if she was able to she’d change everything about her because in her eyes she’s not beautiful. It appears that she along with many of the other children assert a negative connotation with dark skin and essentially prejudice against their own race. The case Brown v. Board of Education made great strides to allow children/ people of all colors to be able to attend the same school and learn in the same class without being segregated to one area of the building, but as one can see, discrimination is still prevalent amongst our youth. Stereotyping is real and people may not even realize that they’re being prejudice against people let alone people of the same background as them and it only sets up our children to notice all the negatives ideations set upon one ethnic group without even giving them a chance to show who they are or their capabilities in life. Benoodles123
ReplyDeleteYou know it really bothered me watching this video due to the fact that children, young African american children feel ugly in their own skin. Its sad to know that African american children at a young age feel like Caucasian kids don't like them or want to be around them due to the skin they're born with. I don't think people are born racist i feel like they learn from their parents. Kids don't know the difference from right or wrong they are taught. It only takes one parent or kid to tell a kid of color they don't matter and it will affect them for while. In the video it showed a lot of racial discrimination and how it affected children of color but the real question is what are they going to do to change the way African Americans feel in there skin ? how will they make them feel like they are at the top with the Caucasian students? These are questions that need answered. As a society we are getting better with socially accepting everyone and making sure everyone in the class rooms feel apart of it. Our country is to diverse to have people discriminating other cause of their race or gender. Really gender stratification ties into this as well men thinking that are better than women. We are taught the ways we live whether it comes from tv, our parents, or even they way the teacher makes you feel. We aren't born into a place full of hatred we learn to be hateful and we learn to feel like we are better than everyone else. If we can teach the younger generations to care for everyone equally we don't have a problem but sadly in today's society we still have those who believe African Americans don't deserve the same rights as Caucasians and those parents will have the world's most hateful children. Dancer 123
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat relieved that I am not the only person who was bothered by this video. It makes me want to hug them and tell them how beautiful and smart they are. I agree with you in the fact that no one is born racist. I believe that people come to have racial biases because of their environment, family, culture, religion, and other factors. For the people who watched this video, I hope that they will try their best to destroy these stereotypes. All children should feel like they are beautiful and smart enough to do anything. Children are dreamers. I slightly disagree that we are not born into a hateful place. Sometimes children can be born into a racist or a sexist household, for example. Then the children are being raised in a hateful environment. -softball_savvy123
DeleteI was also extremely disturbed by this video. The idea that kids so young are able to pick up on this sort of thing is both intriguing and terrifying at the same time. I agree with you that people are not born racist; this seems to be a learned trait, either from society or from family. While I agree with you to a certain extent, I do not believe that simply teaching the younger generations to care for everyone equally will solve all of the racial problems. They should not have to be taught; they should learn from the examples set forth by their peers and those in authority.
Delete-ThreeTwo123
Honestly, my mouth dropped several times when I watched this video. I was flabbergasted by some of the children's responses. I did not realize, which may sound ignorant, that a decently big majority of children have the same racial biases as some adults. These children learned stereotypes and racial stratification from a very early age. While I am not a parent, I believe it is important to raise children in a way that will show them all types of beauty and to try to demolish all stereotypes between race (and other stereotypes). I have witnessed racism throughout my childhood. Not from my parents, but from my grandparents on my dad's side. They do not talk about it too often, but when I was younger, my cousin had an African American friend over and they were clearly disgusted. They dislike when their waiter or waitress are not Caucasian as well. I am glad that my dad did not follow in his parents footsteps or else I would have been raised that way too. It is weird to make that there is still so much segregation even though our society has made it such a long way. Some of those children had racial biases and were racist without even realizing it. They need to be taught that it does not matter what you look like and that what matters is what is on the inside. As corny as it sounds, it is true, and important for our society to come to terms with. That should be a society norm instead of racial biases. Stereotyping happens often in our society without people even realizing it. If children see these stereotypes growing up, it will only allow them to see negative ideations. Children should be able to not grow up like that so that they can see who those people really are and that they are not very different from each other. I am not sure if discrimination will ever cease to exist, but I hope we can make it much less common in our society and youth. If our youth disagrees with these racial biases, then they will teach their own children that, and it can be passed down from generation to generation so ideally we can have a society without any stereotypes, segregation, and racial biases. -softball_savvy123
ReplyDeleteThis study amazed me. It broke my heart to see children at such a young age identify their own skin color as less than another skin color. It is sickening to think that after all this country has been through that subconscious racism still exists in many people today. I took an adolescent psychology course last year and we read a study that looked into hidden biases held by teachers that most, if not all, of them did not even realize that they held. For so long, our society has told us that non-Caucasian students do not achieve as well academically as their Caucasian counterparts, so teachers began teaching them as if they were less smarter than the Caucasian students. It was a sort of brutal self fulfilling prophecy. The study also found that African-American students were also much less likely to move up out of the lower academic track.
ReplyDeleteI hope and pray that our country becomes more accepting. It infuriates me to think that children are still being looked at with implicit biases. Although I do not think that this is a problem that will simply go away in a couple of years, I do believe that if our society works hard at establishing equality in race, the future generations will surely benefit from our work. In one portion of the video, Cooper asks a girl which color person adults do not like. The girl promptly pointed to the darkest colored person on the board and, when asked to explain why, stated that “Maybe some adults do [like dark], but maybe some of them don’t.” This is extremely interesting to me because this young girl has not simply been indoctrinated by parents or friends that the white people hate you; she was able to discern that some people did like dark people, while others did not.
-ThreeTwo123
It is interesting that since our society looks at non-Caucasian people to achieve less academically, teachers conform and teach children based off of this. I think that this could be very true in some cases. It's important that a teacher practices not being biased in front of her students because she is their home away from home and it raising a new generation. In the video, one of the adult woman says that kids develop starting at the age of five. This means that a lot of small acts like calling on Caucasian children more even make students accept the bias. I think teachers have extremely influential jobs and should try harder to make that step every day towards a less biased future. -Kiwi123
DeleteRight away, a young black girl was asked to point to the smart child out of 5 different girls of all races. She points to the white girl and explains that she is smart because she's white. This means that this little girl has grown up in a society that makes a certain race seem to have this intelligent characteristic. She then goes on to say that the ugly and dumb child is the black girl. It proves that people have put a stigma on the black race and this little girl at such a young age is associating her own race with traits like dumb and ugly. A couple other kids who seem a little older answered the questions saying they didn't care what skin color the child had and the teachers shouldn't either. I think the older a child gets, the more independent their opinions are and they become more based on what they think as their own person. The little girl is still influenced by everyone around her all the time. This proves that their is a race problem in school. When another girl answered to a question of what color skin adults prefer, she said the darkest color. And then when he repeated her answer to her, she said well maybe some adults do and some don't. So, she admitted that there was a white bias and then argued it by saying it's just some of the people in the world who have it and others don't. In the video, most black children agreed with negative attributes towards the darkest color over white children, which proves that white children were more exposed to the bias. It proves that all children are raised by their parents to believe certain things because their families are what influence their opinions when they are so undeveloped. The stereotype that's put on race is slowly disappearing, although some children grow up believing one thing firmly and until they are exposed to reality and understanding a person beyond their race, they won't change their beliefs. I think that everyone's actions every day need to change and become more open minded. Especially adults who know their child is witnessing racism. They shouldn't be afraid to say it's wrong and promote less distance between races. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteI think that as these young black children get older, they do start to form their own opinion about the people that they are around, however I don't think the racial stigma that goes along with being black, or any minority for that matter, will ever go away. These children are taught at ages 4 and 5 that they are not smart enough or beautiful enough just because they have brown colored skin. These young children associate intelligence to the lightness of skin, but the older children realize that intelligence is not based on how light or dark your skin is. One of the older children even made the point that it's what's on the inside that matters. The video also said that the white children interviewed were less aware of the bias towards whiteness. I think once those who are light skin start to change the stigma on those who have darker skin than them, as a society we will start to see a change in racial stratification. Daisy123
DeleteThis video honestly came as a shock to me. I was unaware that at such a young age these black children feel as though they are not good enough just because of their brownness. I am fully aware that there is many various forms of racial stratification in today’s society, however I didn’t realize that it began at such a young age. This doll study used the same image of a young child, but each doll had a different shade of skin from varying from very white to very dark. The intended purpose of the study was to see if young children have a bias towards whiteness. The first little girl was asked which doll was the smart child. She responded, without hesitation, the lightest colored doll. Then she was asked which child was the dumb child, and she responded with the darkest doll. The little girl completely ignored all of the colors in between, and said that the reason she chose the lightest doll as the smart child was solely because she was white. The last 5 year old girl they spoke about responded in a similar way. They asked her which skin color she liked the most, and she chose the second lightest doll. The girl said that she wanted this color skin because it was lighter than hers, and because brown is a “nasty” color. She even said she’s not sure of the reason why brown looks nasty, it just does. This is very upsetting to hear because this vibrant, young girl believes that she looks nasty because of the negative stigma we, as a society, place on minorities. It’s not just black children experiencing negative racial stigma, it is every child that doesn’t have the white skin perceived as pretty. More than 61% of the younger black children in this study said the two darkest shades looked ugly. More than half of the black youth today sees themselves as inferior because of racial stratification. In modern society, we are starting to see the narrowing of racial stratification, yet we have not even put a dent in the surface. Negative stigma needs to stop being placed on certain skin colors, cultures, and ethnicities if we want the youth of tomorrow to experience less racial stratification. Daisy123
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