[Vision2020] Race

Wed May 19 14:40:52 PDT 2010

I really hate these kinds of tests.  If I was given such a test, I'd reply with "not enough information".  If that was not an allowed option and I had to choose something, I'd choose the white doll for both answers.  My reasoning would be the following:  Both the smartest people and the meanest people I've ever met are white.  This is because 85+% of the people I've known with any real depth are white, mainly because of where we live.  Especially 40 years ago or so when I was five, when the percentage was closer to 99%.  

Does that mean I'm a racist?  I don't think so.  I think we place too much importance on these sorts of studies.

Paul

--- On Wed, 5/19/10, Art Deco <deco at moscow.com> wrote:

From: Art Deco <deco at moscow.com>
Subject: [Vision2020] Race
To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Cc: "Fox, Linda" <lkfox at cahnrs.wsu.edu>
Date: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 1:43 PM

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      Kids' test answers on race brings mother to tears

      STORY HIGHLIGHTS

        Mother watched daughter take test on racial attitudes and 
        preferences
        Daughter's test reflected study results that children express bias 
        toward white
        Black parents address race with young children more than white 
        parents, research shows
        Special Report "Black or White: Kids on race" AC360 tonight 10 
        p.m. ET
      See parents talk about the different ways 
      they address race with their young children as part of "AC360" special 
      coverage "Black or White: Kids on race" tonight 10 p.m. ET 
      (CNN) -- A 5-year-old girl in Georgia is being asked a series of 
      questions in her school library. The girl, who is white, is looking at 
      pictures of five cartoons of girls, all identical except for skin color 
      ranging from light to dark.
      When asked who the smart child is, she points to a light-skinned doll. 
      When asked who the mean child is she points to a dark-skinned doll. She 
      says a white child is good because "I think she looks like me", and says 
      the black child is ugly because "she's a lot darker."
      After watching her daughter answer the questions, the mother is brought 
      to tears.
      Her daughter is taking part in a new CNN pilot study on children's 
      attitudes on race and her answers actually reflect one of the major 
      findings of the study, that white children have an overwhelming bias 
      toward white, and that black children also have a bias toward white but 
      not nearly as strong as the bias shown by the white children.
      Full coverage: Kids on race
      Renowned child psychologist and University of Chicago professor 
      Margaret Beale Spencer, a leading researcher in the field of child 
      development, was hired as a consultant by CNN. She designed the pilot 
      study and used a team of three psychologists to implement it: two testers 
      to execute the study and a statistician to help analyze the results.
      Full doll study results
      Her team tested 133 children from schools that met very specific 
      economic and demographic requirements. In total, eight schools 
      participated: four in the greater New York City area and four in 
      Georgia.
      The mother, whose name the study prohibits from being used, says her 
      daughter has "never asked her about color" and that the results of the 
      test were an eye opener, and she says she and her daughter "talked a long 
      time about it"
      Her daughter's perception on race and the fact that the issue was not 
      taken up at home is in many ways typical.
      Research and discussions with parents of the children who participated 
      in this study, indicate that white parents as a whole do not talk to their 
      kids about race as much as black parents.
      A 2007 study in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that 75 
      percent of white families with kindergartners never, or almost never, talk 
      about race. For black parents the number is reversed with 75 percent 
      addressing race with their children.
      Po Bronson, author of NurtureShock and an award-winning writer on 
      parenting issues says white parents "want to give their kids this sort of 
      post-racial future when they're very young and they're under the wrong 
      conclusion that their kids are colorblind. ... It's in the absence of 
      messages of tolerance that they will naturally ... develop these skin 
      preferences."
      Many African-American parents CNN spoke to during the study say they 
      begin discussing race at a very early age because they say they feel they 
      have to prepare their children for a society where their skin color will 
      create obstacles for them.
      iReport: Where do we go from here?
      The study has generated thousands of comments to CNN. After seeing the 
      report, iReporter Omekongo Dibinga said, "My daughters are 4 and 2 years 
      old. I didn't realize that at 2 years old I'd have to start teaching them 
      to be proud of their skin color."
      Watch 
      his reaction
      The father of a black girl who took part in the CNN 
      study says, "You can not get away from the fact that race is a factor but 
      hopefully what we instill in them at home will help them to put that in 
      its right place and move on"
      CNN's Chuck Hadad contributed to this 
    report
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