While commenting on another blogger's blog - I stated that a certain incident was one of class and not race.The blog host gave a quick equation to explain her perspective; "Race=Class"
Really? Since when?
Or is this just her projecting her own insecurities onto a situation?
IMO- Race and class are two separate things. Sure, they can overlap, but they're NOT synonymous.
Good Morning America just did the Black Doll/White Doll experiment made famous by Kenneth and Mamie Clark back in 1954.
They wondered if things had changed since the election of Barack Obama as POTUS.
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_and_Mamie_Clark
http://blogs.abcnews.com/gma/2009/03/what-dolls-tell.html
So in saying that "Race=Class" - Isn't that just picking the Black doll as the bad doll?
You're right race =/= class! Class is much older than race (as a social construct) and even if we were to somehow achieve a post racial society, class would still be an issue.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad that more of these kids seem to be happy with either doll. I saw this experiment a few years ago as well, and the results weren't as even.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the kids that really picked/identified with the white doll were the ones that were bi-racial, one was white/black and the other looked asian/black.
Does this have to do with the parent that they most identify with? Perhaps both of them had non-black mothers.
Do any of the answers have to do with the person conducting the interview? If I am a child being asked which doll is better by a white woman and there is a camera and I look nice and I want to please this woman... Might I tell her what I think she wants to hear, or what I know is "nice?" maybe...
Wonder if the results would change by any significant amount if the person conducting the interview was a black woman...
In any case, race has nothing to do with class... And those with class know this already.
Even if you are a wealthy or well to do person of color, you will still succumb to the social construct that is racism at some point.
ReplyDeleteI wish you provided a link to the Blog in question. I'd love to check it out and the subsequent conversation.
@ Noface - Yep.
ReplyDelete@ RunningMom - Yeah, there are many factors involved in any social experiment. But I like the results of the new study better.
@ RiPPa - Only Racists use Race to qualify class.
(The discussion was on Siditty's blog dealing with the Black patron in a "Posh" store. ("Posh"? When is Banana Republic a "Posh" store?)
"Only Racists use Race to qualify class." Very! Very True! I recently received an email showing "evidence" that racists tend to have double digit IQs. If that is correct, it would explain why anyone would believe that race=class.
ReplyDelete