In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois, noted author, sociologist, and the first African American to earn a Doctorate Degree from Harvard University, received a letter from Alvin Borquest. The White researcher was interested in the subject of crying. He asked the Black scholar a simple question, “Does the Negro shed tears?”
More than one century and one decade later, we continue to struggle with our cultural and racial encapsulation and bias in a world that is continually growing more and more diverse. And not surprising, that struggle extends to our children. A new study out of the University of Virginia indicates that White children think Black children feel less pain than they do. These biases show themselves in children as young as 7, and the biases grow stronger as children get older.
Many educators and parents believe that young children are somehow oblivious to race. Yet research has consistently shown that children begin forming ideas about race very early in life. Research that began in the mid- 1900s and extends to the present support this notion. Studies such as those by Gordon Allport, Kenneth and Mamie Clark, James Banks, and Debra Van Ausdale show that even pre-school children and students in kindergarten begin forming racial attitudes, perceptions, and preferences.
We know that children are not born with racial attitudes or biases. Rather, they are learned and reinforced, starting at a very young age. Rebecca Dore, the lead investigator of the University of Virginia study, said that her study does not explain this bias among the children she studied, ages 5, 7, and 10. However, I think it is safe to surmise that the reasons lie with the adults and social forces in the lives of these children. And therein lies the potential for change. While Dore acknowledges the difficulty of addressing this issue, she says that “adults should begin addressing it early.” The question is how? (to be continued)
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