CNN 2010-05-22

People of a certain age sort of remember times of great racial conflict in this country, and divide that seemed pretty much impossible to bridge. And 60 years ago, researchers used the simple doll test to see how children view race, seeing their reaction to black and white baby dolls. Well CNN has commission now on a new study, a second doll test if you will. Now, Anderson Cooper takes up, look at the results.

There are lots of different colors for skin.

I have questions for you about these pictures of different children.As I read the question, I want you to point to the picture that fits the story.

Are children color blind in America?

Show me the smart child，Show me the mean child.Can you show me the dumb child?Show me the nice child.

Is bias¹ measurable even at an early age?

Why is she the bad child? Because she's black, black.

Why is he the ugly child?

Because he， he looks like he's white.

Why is he the dumb child?

Because she has dark-brown skin.

Why is she the bad child?

Because she makes fun of everybody else's skin color.

How much do kids learn from what they see and hear from adults?

Show me the child who has the skin color most adults like?

And show me the child who has the skin color most adults don't like.

These are questions that we, along with CNN's Soledad O'Brien and a team of psychologists hired by CNN spent months investigating through tests, interviews with children and their parents. They are questions that had been asked for decades.

The first doll study ignited controversy² in the 1940s when psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark pioneered studies in the effects of segregation³ in schools by asking African-American kids to choose between black and white dolls. The so-called doll test found black kids overwhelmingly preferred white over black. Those results were at the center of the landmark⁴ 1954 Supreme⁵ Court case Brown vs. the Board of Education that desegregated American schools.

Now, with a first African-American president and nearly 60 years after segregation was overturned, we wondered, where are we today? How do kids see differences in race? What we discovered might shock you, but first, how we got there.

Skin color, a child's skin color estimate.OK, yeah.

We asked renowned⁶ child psychologist and University of Chicago researcher Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer to design a pilot study for CNN and analyze⁷ the results.Our children are always near us, you know, because we're a society. And what we put out there, kids report back. You ask the question, they'll give you the answer.

Spencer's team tested more than 130 kids in eight schools with very different racial and economic demographics. Half of the schools were in the north, half in the south.
 

1 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

4 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

7 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。