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<H1>Kids' test answers on race brings mother to tears</H1>
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<DIV><B>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</B></DIV>
<UL class="cnn_bulletbin cnnstryhghlght">
<LI>Mother watched daughter take test on racial attitudes and
preferences</LI>
<LI>Daughter's test reflected study results that children express bias
toward white</LI>
<LI>Black parents address race with young children more than white
parents, research shows</LI>
<LI>Special Report "Black or White: Kids on race" <A
href="http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/" target=_blank>AC360</A> tonight 10
p.m. ET</LI></UL></DIV></DIV>
<P class=cnneditorialnote><EM>See parents talk about the different ways
they address race with their young children as part of <A
href="http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/" target=_blank>"AC360"</A> special
coverage "Black or White: Kids on race" tonight 10 p.m. ET </EM></P>
<P><B>(CNN)</B> -- 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.</P>
<P>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."</P>
<P>After watching her daughter answer the questions, the mother is brought
to tears.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P><A href="http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/kids.on.race/"
target=_blank>Full coverage: Kids on race</A></P>
<P>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.</P>
<P><A
href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/13/expanded_results_methods_cnn.pdf"
target=_blank>Full doll study results</A></P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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"</P>
<P>Her daughter's perception on race and the fact that the issue was not
taken up at home is in many ways typical.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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."</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P><A href="http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=444088"
target=_blank>iReport: Where do we go from here?</A></P>
<P>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."</P>
<P><A href="http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-445486" target=_blank>Watch
his reaction</A></P>
<P class=cnninline>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"</P>
<P class=cnn_strycbftrtxt>CNN's Chuck Hadad contributed to this
report</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>