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;void(0)) Sometime in the early 1920s a Panamanian woman arrived in Harlem, New York with her two small children in tow – a boy and a girl. With time it became abundantly clear to her that her and the teachers that her son was academically gifted. Although the school system in New York was not segregated at the time, they did try to streamline the more promising black children into “vocational” schools to teach them to become auto mechanics or machine repairmen. This mother had the highest regard for the vocational skills but something inside of her told her that he may be destined for greater achievements. She saw to it that he would receive a high school education with strong emphasis on college preparation. Her son went on to obtain an undergraduate degree from Howard University then on to become the first Black man to receive a doctorate of Psychology from Columbia University. His eventual marriage to an equally intelligent and dedicated woman – (Dr.Miriam Clark) - was part of some strange twist of fate, because it would lead them both on a road that would have them play a major role in what was to become a major event in history, and it was all about a doll. One day the couple was walking down 125th street in Harlem and decided to stop into a shop while looking for a doll for a young relative. They were lucky enough to find a black doll which was rare at the time. Like most scientists, they became involved in a discussion about dolls and the impact of these surrogate playmates on the mind of children. Before long they returned to the little store and purchased another black doll – for themselves. This one would serve their own purposes. The doll would come in handy for use in some research they were considering to undertake. A chance encounter between the psychologists and fellow Howard University alumnus Thurgood Marshall probably evoked a strong guffaw when they revealed that their latest research involved dolls. However, as the world would soon witness, these dolls were not to be taken lightly. They were destined to catapult the names of Drs. Kenneth and Miriam Clark, and Attorney Thurgood Marshall onto the stage of history. The “doll experiment” went something like this: The Clarks walked into a first grade class in a white public school in South Carolina with a black doll and a white doll. They interviewed one student at a time. Among the questions they asked the students were, which doll was the “prettiest”. The children overwhelmingly said that the white doll was the “prettiest”. They were asked which doll was “good”. The children responded that the white doll was “good”. They then asked them which doll was “bad”. The children overwhelmingly responded that the black doll was “bad”. They were then asked which doll was the “ugliest”. They responded that the black doll was “ugliest”. The children were then asked which doll most resembled them. They overwhelmingly responded that the white doll most resembled them. The Clarks then went over to a segregated first grade class in the black section of town. They carried out the same interview with each of the black children. They found that the black children’s responses were similar to that of the white children. That is, the black children considered the white doll to be “pretty” and “good”, and the black doll “ugly” and “bad”. The crucial part of the experiment was when the black children were asked which doll most closely resembles them. Many of the black children responded that they resembled the white doll. The others grew so confused that they broke down in tears. I can say that I feel privileged in having been able to watch an interview of Dr. Clark on a TV show sometime in the early 1970s, as he discussed the research and the black children’s responses to the questions. It was pretty emotional, and I’m sure that it had the same effect on Chief Justice Earl Warren as he wrote his opinion in “Brown vs. the Board of Education”: “---separating black children from white children solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone.” Dr. Clark’s description of the black children’s almost pathological responses was an indication of how deeply racism cut into the psyche of oppressed people. He said that forced segregation in public schools caused its victims to be indoctrinated, from childhood, “to accept inferiority as part of reality.” Was it necessity or accident that Dr. Kenneth Clark’s mother decided to educate her children in the United States rather than in the sunny warmth of her comfortable home in Panama? Was it by chance that Dr. Clark bought the black doll in that unknown shop in Harlem? Was it necessity or accident that Dr. Clark stumbled upon Thurgood Marshall, who happened to be argung another case for desegregation in the courts after so many failed attempts throughout the 1940s? The inter-relation of accident and necessity in events is grasped as a consequence of the advance of knowledge from the external to the internal connections of things. Since the arrival of Africans in the Western Hemisphere the process of freedom was set in motion. No man wishes to be a slave. The fundamental aspect of chattel and mental bondage is “acceptance of inferiority as part of reality”, as Dr. Clark so aptly stated. Dr. Clark’s mother did not accept this sense of inferiority. His wife did not accept this sense of inferiority. Thurgood Marshall did not accept this sense of inferiority. When Dr. Clark’s mother arrived in the United States from Panama she, like so many other black people of her time, believed that, eventually, black people would attain their goal of freedom, justice and equality in this country and throughout the world. She wanted her child to be a successful scholar. There are bound to be learned people in the world, even among an oppressed people. Whether a particular child of a particular parent will be successful depends on many accidental factors. These accidental factors are in the aggregate and in the long run, bound to have the result that scholars will arise and leaders emerge from these numbers. The accidental emergence of a Ms. Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and so many others throughout the years that followed the 1954 decision, brings about the fact that the necessary manifests itself through the accidental. During this month in which we acknowledge the survival of African Americans the Aton Project salutes the superlative genius and courage of spirit of Dr. Kenneth Clark. His battle against segregation was no less fierce than his battle against the inner demons of self-loathing and defeatism that afflicts so many of us at various times throughout our lives. He was an exemplary psychologist and leader in the struggle for Civil Rights, who brought the science of psychology out of the laboratory and onto the social stage. Oh yeah, don't forget your autographed copy of “The Ackee Chronicles”. Tony VanSluytman - the Author  Newsletter Directory The Aton Project - Home Page Tony VanSluytman info Tony VanSluytman - the Author | Return Home | The BOOK DOCTOR | The BANYON NETWORK | The Banyon Buzz Newsletters | The Aton Project Newsletters | Contact Us | |
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