Psychologist, Educator And Social Activist, Kenneth Bancroft Clark Was Born July 24, 1914.
A Native Of Harlem, Clark Attended Howard University And Columbia University. HeBecame Columbia University's First Black Psychology Ph.D Recipient In 1940.
He Began Teaching At New York City College In 1942, Becoming The School's First BlackPermanent Professor. He Served As Visiting Professor At Columbia, Harvard And The University Of California, Berkeley, But Remained At City College Until His Retirement In 1975.
He Became The First African American On The New York State Board Of Regents And The First Black President Of The American Psychological Association.
During The 1950's Dr. Clark Frequently Served As An Expert Witness For The NAACP In Its Legal Battles Against Segregation. He Is Most Noted For His Research On The Self-Image Of Black Children In The Famous "Doll Study." This Experiment Was Crucial To The Desegregation Of Public Schools In The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Case.
Along With His Wife, Mamie, Dr. Clark Studied The Responses Of More Than 200 Black Children Who Were Given A Choice Of White Or Brown Dolls To Play With. They Found That In Most Cases, The Children Preferred The White Dolls. When Asked To Pick The Doll That Was The "Pretty" Or "Good," Again, The White Dolls Were ChosenOver The Black Ones. And When Coloring Human Figures With The Color Of Their Own Skin, The Children Selected Lighter Shades.
Dr. Concluded That Segregation Was Psychologically Damaging To Black Children, And Fostered Racial Self-Hatred In Children, As Early As Age Three. Most Recently The Experiment Was Recreated By Teen Filmmaker, Kiri Davis, In The 2006 Film, A Girl Like Me. Amazingly, Her Results Were The Same As The Clarks, More Than Half A Century Later.
While Dr. Clark Advocated Integration, His Book, Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas Of Social Power (1965), Was Popular With Black Nationalists Because It Compared The Situation Of Black Americans With That Of Colonized People.
Prior To His Death On May 1, 2005, Dr. Clark And His Wife Founded The Northside Center For Child Development In Harlem, A Facility To Help Emotionally Disturbed Children, And Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU).
A Girl Like Me
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
..."He Is Most Noted For His Research On The Self-Image Of Black Children In The Famous "Doll Study." This Experiment Was Crucial To The Desegregation Of Public Schools In The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Case"...
What a powerful study that was Brother Hugh. I still can't understand why Black parents continue to buy their kids White dolls when there are so many minority dolls in the stores and available on the internet.
Friday, July 24th 2009 at 2:23PM
Jen Fad
I completely agree, Jen. Even more amazing is the fact that Black Children STILL prefer White Dolls over Black Dolls, as demonstrated in the 2006 Kiri Davis film, "A Girl Like Me." Posted Friday, July 24th 2009 at 2:45PM
Friday, July 24th 2009 at 2:47PM
Hugh Gaddy
