video, 2019

(Doll Study)

The dolly study by Dr. Clark defined the racial perceptions and preferences of African-American children during segregation. The results were disheartening because the children assigned negative characteristics to the black doll and positive to the white one, clearly exposing the consequences of white supremacy on young, impressionable minds. In a short video, visualized is a reconstruction of Dr. Clark’s experiment showing the racial perceptions and preference of children in a black supremacist society. The video was produced in black and white with strong contrast, grain, and moving film imperfections to make the viewer feel they are watching a 1940s documentary piece. Since white people were enslaved and colonized and an African-dominated society was established, the children were placed a room with traditional fabrics hung on walls around them. A twig table-runner is in place on the coffee table, and the dolls sitting on it are dressed in traditional wraps. The black doll has a fashionable afro hair style and wears a more intricate fabric while the white doll has non-styled, straight blonde hair and wears a plain, solid color fabric. The children questioned are neatly dressed in traditional clothing from various tribal regions. The voice-over of the interviewer is in Kiswahili and accompanied with the noise of an old tape recorder. The children were asked a series of questions: Which doll is the black doll? Which doll is the white doll? Which one is pretty? Which one is ugly? Which one has good manners? Which one has bad manners? Which doll looks like you? As expected, in a black supremacist society, the children assigned positive characteristics to the black doll and assigned negative characteristics to the white doll.