O'BRIEN: Coming up next, we'll tell you about a 17-year-old girl who's re-created the doll test. You remember that? Back in the 1940s and '50s? That's were black kids were asked to pick between a black doll and white doll. And they overwhelmingly chose the white doll. See how the children respond 50 years later. It's fascinating. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: It was called "the doll test." Back in the 1940s and '50s, black preschoolers were given two dolls -- one white one, one black one -- and asked which they liked better. Most said they liked the white doll better. Well, now a 17-year-old high schooler and filmmaker has recreated that doll test. And I want you to take a look as she asks a 5-year-old girl, African-American, to pick the doll that she wants to play with. Listen and watch very carefully.

Let me interrupt the transcript here to give you a little backgroun on The Doll Test, in the event that this is new to you.

Beginning in 1939, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark (himself an African American, a civil rights leader, a psychologist, and first black permanent professor at the City College of New York) and his wife Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark undertook an ambitious and forward-thinking program to determine and better understand the way that black children see themseves.  Dubbed "The Doll Test", its construct was relatively simple:

• The children were shown two black dolls and two white dolls.
• The children were asked to name the race of each of the dolls.
• The children were then asked which of the dolls was nice, which was bad, and which they wanted to play with.

The results became widely known: an overwhelming majority of of these black children favored the white dolls.  Moreover, when asked to identify the "bad" dolls, these children overwhelmingly chose the black dolls.

Now remember - this test was conducted in the late 1930s and early 1940s, WELL in advance of landmark civil rights legislation and court decisions to come.  In fact, in 1952, the NAACP submitted the results of The Doll Test as findings in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.  It was used to show that the Clarks' conclusion from the test itself, that the data was "indicative of the dehumanizing effects of racism", were being practiced legally through a policy of segregation.

The decision in Brown v. Board of Education is, of course, historic.  Chief Justice Earl Warren concluded in the court's opinion that segregation "impl[ied] inferiority in civil society" and that, for African American children, the feeling "may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone".

(source information on the Clarks, the Doll Test, and Brown v. Board of Education can be found here)

Back to the transcript.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you show me the doll that you like best, or that you like to play with? And can you show me the doll that looks bad? OK. And can you give -- and why does that look bad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it's black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. And why do you think that's the nice doll?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she's white.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And can you give me the doll that looks like you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

It's difficult to recreate the video itself.  The questioner, Kiri Davis, is a 17-year old filmmaker who wanted to see The Doll Test recreated today.  To that end, the video clip above shows only the subject, sitting at a table, with two baby dolls, one black and one white.  The dolls are absolutely identical with the exception of their race.  As Kiri asks the questions at the beginning of the clip, the 4 or 5-year old black girl being questioned identifies the white doll as the one she likes best and as the one she would like to play with.  She then identifies the black doll as the one that is "bad".  After an excruciating hesitation, she finally identifies the black doll, the one she has just said is "bad", as the one that looks like her.  The rest of the transcript above rounds out the picture.

Back to the transcript:

Why did you want it recreate in your film this doll test?

KIRI DAVIS, STUDENT FILMMAKER: Well, the film's kind of about the standards of beauty. It kind of looked at how they're imposed on black girls particularly, and I interviewed those kind of girls on these standards. And, like, you can tell people how these standards affect people all you want and how it might affect self-esteem or self image. But until you figure out a way to really show them and really show, like, with children, how it's, like, affecting them, that's when it really registers with people and that's when they finally really get the message.

O'BRIEN: It's amazing. I mean, five years old. You almost think that they would be too young to really understand the messages. And the child's sort of nodding her head saying, no, it's not. Were you surprised -- virtually every black person I've spoken to has said I'm not surprised at all?

SHOLA LYNCH, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER AND MENTOR: I actually was surprised. And I was surprised that a lot the kids that chose it's black doll as good were immigrant children from countries outside of the U.S. So what does that say about the U.S. media and what's being absorbed by these young people?

But, you know, in terms of getting the message across, I'd like to say Kiri as a filmmaker -- what we focused on; my job as a mentee was to help her articulate her vision -- and we focused on what she could do. And the doll test was something that could be replicated. And so it was an amazing way to contextualize what these young girls were talking about in terms of their own self-esteem, standards of beauty, what they thought was good hair and bad hair, and to give it a broader and bigger sentence.

My emphasis added.  First, I was impressed that this young woman seemed to be taking on two issues that are related, but not always grouped together.  The question of "standards of beauty" is on that really captures my attention and imagination.  I have long felt that, particularly for young girls living in the United States today, the ideal of female "beauty" is virtually unachievable.  Not because people are lazy or because of fast food or any of a number of outside influences - but simply because of genetics.  Not all girls will be tall.  Not all girls will be proportioned the same way.  Yet the feminine ideal of "beauty" thrust at girls through magazines, TV, music videos etc. is very narrow.  You hve to be tall, you have to be thin, you have to have perfectly proportioned bust/waist/hips, you can have NO excess body fat, and your legs must be long.  Stop for a moment if you're anywhere where you can observe other human beings and ask tell me how many of the women you see conform to this ideal.  I'll wait.

I find that issue of the "feminine beauty ideal" interesting enough.  But this young woman took it a step further and began to look into the African American female beauty ideal.  Not only is it difficult enought to conform to the "ideal" femal body type - for black girls, the ideal is NEVER achievable because the perception of black skin as "bad" is one that can't be dieted or exercised into idyllic conformity.  It made me very sad for those little girls.

The transcript continues:

O'BRIEN: In a way it's sad. I really should mention first that this program, which is called Real Works Teen Filmmaking -- it's an after-school program for high schoolers -- pairs high schoolers with mentors.

DAVIS: Out in Brooklyn at the Y -- at the Brooklyn YMCA.

O'BRIEN: At the Brooklyn YMCA is where you were working. I mean, in a way, what's so depressing is that things haven't changed. I mean, if years and years and decades later, we're still figuring out, well, what's good hair and what's bad hair? And who's got light skin and who's got dark skin? Which makes you pretty and which doesn't make you pretty? It's kind of depressing.

DAVIS: You know, I went to two schools -- two day-care centers right out in Harlem where I did the tests, and...

O'BRIEN: How did you pick them?

DAVIS: I just -- I had volunteered there before. And basically I knew people that worked there.

O'BRIEN: So sort of randomly?

DAVIS: Yes. I got my permission slip signed and basically even though it was 50 years ago, many things, I guess, haven't changed. And even at four or five years old, you can tell what America values and what it doesn't.

Again, my emphasis added.  I would double-bold that if I knew how, because from the mouth of that 17-year old came something so profoundly sad.  It made me think of Hurricane Katrina - day after day the news coverage of the aftermath showed black faces.  The majority (by far) of the people stranded at the Superdome and NOLA convention Center?  Black.  Black faces left behind, black faces feeling abandoned, black faces pleading for help and simple human compassion.

You can tell what america values and what it doesn't.

From the mouths of babes.

Continuing with the transcript:

O'BRIEN: I thought it was interesting -- I read how you were preparing for the doll test. And had to go out and, of course, find a black doll and a white doll. And even that was hard.

DAVIS: Yes. That -- just trying to find a white doll and a black doll that kind of looked the same, and go in different toy stores and try to get that, I just couldn't really find it. I thought...

O'BRIEN: What, there were no black dolls in stock?

DAVIS: There weren't that many at all.

LYNCH: That's actually what I found so shocking. When Kiri came to me, and I said, well, let's go to F.A.O. Schwarz, check out Toys 'R Us...

DAVIS: They didn't have it.

LYNCH: They didn't have it.

O'BRIEN: That is surprising. That is surprising. I want to remind everybody at the -- you can see this movie online. And I've seen it 15 times already this morning...

DAVIS: Oh, wow. O'BRIEN: So I'm going to give everybody the URL, and I want you to write it down so you can quick, go and take a look. As soon as we're off the air at the end of segment, I'm going to give that to you. And our parent company, Time Warner, I should mention, also helped underwrite this whole program.

Digression:  The website for the Reel Works Teen Filmmaking can be found here.  It seems like a great program for young people to express themselves about things they think about.  It's a nice counterpoint to the discussion that's been going on here at Daily Kos over the past few days regarding young people and their relative involvement in the world around us.

Kiri's documentary can be found here.  It's only about 7 minutes long and worth every second of the watching.

The interview with Kiri finishes up:

[O'BRIEN] So what does it say, in the big picture? I mean, what's the takeaway and how do you fix things? Or is it impossible?

DAVIS: That's a good question. How do you fix things? Everyone wants to know. And I think just kind of acknowledging this issue, because at times, like, when I made the film it was almost too taboo to even talk about these kind of things that were going on, and these standards of beauty, or...

O'BRIEN: Among black people or white people or both?

DAVIS: I think both. Or in general, in American society, they kind of talk about these things. And that's why I kind of wanted to make a film about it. And so I think sometimes people do certain things, but it's subconsciously almost. And so I hope that kind of brings awareness to people, in terms of how they're kind of giving in to certain standards, or in terms of what children say.

O'BRIEN: What did the people at the Y, when they saw their own students perform in that test and pick time again -- time and again...

DAVIS: Oh, at the harbor (ph), the day-care center.

O'BRIEN: Yes, at the day-care center. What was the reaction?

DAVIS: They were pretty shocked. Some of them were crying and tearing up. It was a big surprise to a lot of people, I think. And just kind of realizing how these children were feeling and how things were affecting these children. And so they've like -- since then they've kind of altered their curriculum to try to make -- have more programs and stuff that will help with like self-esteem.

O'BRIEN: Do you think that's going to help? Or is it a matter of, you still can't find a black doll when you go to F.A.O. Schwarz or any toy company?

LYNCH: I think it's a matter of parents and school teachers educating kids that, you know -- that there is more about black culture than even the media. That if you know something about your history -- I mean, Kiri's parents have done an amazing job. She knew the doll test existed, that 1957 test...

O'BRIEN: Most 17-year-olds do not.

LYNCH: Most -- absolutely. So she has a base of knowledge that lot of teenagers don't have, and she was able to use that. Well, we need to know our history, our culture. We need to know we come from a long line of people who have been engaged and activists. You know, that we can't flatten that. For instance, the civil rights movement didn't just happen because one woman stood up. It was a movement that had been around for decades, right?

O'BRIEN: Know your history is really the message there. I got to tell you, this is such a moving film. It's a beautiful film. I know you've won a bunch of awards. And you should be really, really proud of yourselves.

DAVIS: Oh, thank you.

My final emphasis added.  I highlighted O'Brien's closing comment because, while I think it's correct, I also think it misses the essential point.  Davis herself identifies the essential point- it's achknowleding the issue that has to occur, and, painfully, it's knowing that the test results have essentially not changed in 50 years that is an essential point.  It's telling us something, and the 'something' is not good.

Little girls shouldn't grow up feeling badly about themselves for any reason.  White, black, asian, hispanic, etc.  There's enough in the way of challenges ahead of those little girls to have them feeling badly about themselves for something they can't change.

Honestly, I don't know what improves this.  We've talked a lot in blogs and on TV about the "beauty standard" in America yet popular media continues to throw that narrowly-defined "ideal" female at us every chance it gets.  I suppose what improves it begins each within ourselves.  What improves it is opening our eyes to each of our own flaw and accepting ourselves the way we are.  From there, we can pass along that acceptance and that strong sense of individuality in spite of the "ideals" to children with whom we are in contact.  They don't have to be our own children - not all of us have children - they can be the neighbors children or relatives.

I don't think often about being ashamed that I'm white.  But today I really was, if for no other reason that my whiteness somehow makes a little black girl out there feel bad about herself.

THAT news is equally important as the other news dominating today because, in the end, it's the people we care about, right?