Portraits of Self Hatred

“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of skin to such extent that you bleach to get like the white man? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate your self from the top of your head to the soles of your feet?” Malcolm X





In the historic Brown v. the Board of Education case, the U.S. Supreme Court found that:

'Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to (retard) the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial(ly) integrated school system.’

The Brown court cited several studies to support the above assertions. One of the studies cited was Kenneth B. Clark’s study. In 1947, Dr. Clark conducted a doll test with a group of African American children. Using for two brown dolls and two white dolls, Dr. Clark asked the children to: “(1) give me the doll that you would like to play with; (2) give me the doll that is a nice doll; (3) give me the doll that looks bad; (4) give me the doll that has a nice color…” The majority of children decided to play with the white dolls. The majority of the children selected the white dolls as the nice dolls. The majority of the children selected the white dolls as the dolls with the nice color. The majority of the children picked that the brown dolls as the dolls that look bad. Fast forward over 60 year later.

Last week, CNN’s Anderson Cooper re-aired segments of Black and White Kids on Race and provided updates. Similar to Dr. Clark’s doll test, CNN assembled a team of experts to conduct a pilot study of black and white children. Experts showed the African American and white subjects a picture of five children ranging in complexion from dark brown to white. The experts asked the children the following questions:

(1) Which child is the dumb child?
(2) Which child is the nice child?
(3) Which child is the mean child?
(4) Which skin color do you want as your own?

According to Anderson Cooper, white children and, to a lesser degree, black children showed substantial white bias. White bias is the tendency to view lighter skin positively and darker skin negatively. White bias is simply a euphemism for white supremacy.

Here, we are over 50 years after Brown. For the most part, America is no longer a segregated society. In many ways, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream is now a reality. As Dr. King said, black and white children are able to join hands as sisters and brothers. We have been told that children do not see race. That makes it even more heart breaking to see these beautiful African American children in the above CNN videos express such self hatred.

We experienced the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights and the Black Power movements. However, black and white children are still programmed to embrace the myth of white supremacy. Years later, many of us continue to hate ourselves. Years later, many of us continue to think that white people are more beautiful than black people. Many of us continue to think that white people are more intelligent than black people. We continue to believe in the myth of white supremacy. Years later, many of us continue to idolize white people and despise black people. Apparently, integration is not a panacea.