Racial prejudice formation in early childhood development

Childhood Prejudice

In an experiment, a Caucasian girl named Morgan was shown pictures of two girls - one white and one black.

When asked who was smarter, Morgan pointed to the white girl. She was then shown a picture of a white and a black boy and was asked who threw garbage on the floor. She then pointed to the black boy (Stern-LaRosa and Bettman 2000).

Morgan is only three years old.

The experiment shows how early prejudice can affect people's perceptions, and the various negative ways in which they are manifested.

Morgan, however, is far from a lost cause. Experts agree that children often look to adults for guidance, and that there are many strategies to help children like Morgan work through their attitudes towards difference.

Definitions of prejudice

Studies of prejudice and discrimination usually center on a group of common ideas. Most experts begin with stereotypes, which are "cognitive shortcuts" regarding the qualities of individuals based solely on their membership in a specific group. An individual can then develop prejudice, which is composed of attitudes towards other people based on these stereotypes. These prejudicial attitudes can be positive or negative (Waller 2000).

Finally, these prejudicial attitudes can be manifested in discrimination, which are positive or negative behaviors towards people who belong to groups that are perceived as different (Waller 2000).

Parents or caregivers, however, need to explain these ideas in terms that children can understand. For example, a parent or teacher can say that prejudice is a feeling, when "we feel and think about people...in an unfair way" (Stern LaRose and Bettman, 2000, p. 156).

Morgan, for example, already has stereotypes regarding African-American children. She already thinks, for example, that the white girl is smarter and that the black boy is automatically guilty of littering. In a reverse stereotyping, a young black boy named Jason was shown a picture of a black and a white boy in playing chess. Jason believed that the black boy would lose because "he doesn't want to win" (Stern-LaRosa and Bettman, 2000, p. 156).

Discrimination, on the other hand, happens when people act on these prejudices. Left unchecked, for example, Morgan may eventually refuse to play with other black girls. Jason could internalize the idea that he could never excel in an intellectual activity such as chess. Given the influence of the media, Jason would have likely answered differently is shown a picture of two boys playing basketball.

Forms of difference

As they develop into social beings, children exhibit a strong desire to belong to distinct groups. This sense of belonging is often dependent on a child's earliest ideas of sameness and difference. Thus, a desire to play with a doll of the same race gives way to a desire to belong to a group that the child thinks has his or her same traits.

In North America, one of the earliest identifiable traits is race and ethnicity. Thus, studies show that children in kindergarten and elementary school exhibit prejudicial attitudes. Regardless of a child's race, prejudice often took the form of favorable attitudes towards Caucasians and unfavorable attitudes towards Hispanics, African-Americans and Native Americans. These attitudes did not decline as the children grew older. However, counter-bias in the form of unfavorable attitudes towards white people also increased (Doyle et al., 1995).

In addition to race and ethnicity, children learn to recognize and develope stereotypes regarding other forms of difference as well. A Canadian study of 254 children from kindergarten to sixth grade showed that children formed degrees of bias based on gender. Even among children of the same race, kids distinguished between ethnicity (French- versus English-speaking children). Children were also acutely aware of differences based on body type, particularly against children who were overweight (Powlishta et al., 1994).

First experience with prejudice

For most people, the first experience with prejudice occurs from ages six to eight, when children enter kindergarten or first grade. These experiences include from isolation, exclusion from activities, being called hurtful names or even being threatened and attacked.

A young white girl recalls being called a "honky." A Native American boy narrates being called a "savage." When he tried to make friends with the kids who teased him, he reports being threatened with a beating. Some children report using the strategies against their tormentors.

After being called a "chink," a Hmong boy fired back by calling his teasers "niggers." The Hmong boy later says that he "didn't mean it...I just wanted them to get away from me" (Stern-LaRosa and Bettman, 2000, p. 31).

One sixth-grader from Minneapolis tells of being called names and left out of groups since she was in kindergarten. The girl believes that her mixed race heritage - her father is white while her mother is black - compounds her difficulty in making friends. She is alternately called names like "nigger" or "whitey." In describing her sense of isolation, she says "It hurts so much you just want to rip all your skin off and jump into a new one...You wish you were never that color and never born sometimes" (Stern-LaRosa and Bettman, 2000, p. 31).

Based on these early experiences, children often conclude that it was simply not possible to combat the prejudice that they have encountered. Many express the belief that "it's just easier to relate to people of your own race" (Stern-LaRosa and Bettman, 2000, p. 32).

Fighting prejudice

Fortunately, this perception is wrong. It is possible to combat the development of prejudice. There are many ways channel a child's awareness of difference into positive rather than negative attitudes.

The first step is to start early, since even babies already show an awareness of rudimentary differences like gender and race. Any parent knows that one of a two-year-old's favorite activities to is ask "why." Thus, the parent's or caregiver's task is to provide honest and direct answers.

For example, when a toddler may ask a question like "Why does Marta sound funny when she talks?" Rather than reinforcing that Marta sounds "funny" and instructing the toddler to ignore the accent, the toddler's parent could use this as a chance to provide guidance. A better response, could go: " There is a reason why Marta sounds different to you. That's because people who learn another language first often say words different from people who learn English first. Marta learned Spanish before she learned English. Don't you think it's great to speak two languages? If you can't understand Marta at first, ask her to say it again. Maybe you can even ask her to teach you a few words in Spanish."

As the above example shows, a toddler picks up that speaking with an accent is not a negative ("funny") trait. Rather, it could be positive ("fun"). Furthermore, learning a few words in Spanish could also be the basis for recognizing connections and forming friendships.

Prejudice and discrimination are often more acute in school-age children and thus present children with special challenges. In a playground, for example, Lisa laments to her teacher that the boys would not let her play basketball. Rather than making a derogatory remark about boys (like "They're afraid you can beat them"), a teacher could turn the experience into something more positive. The teacher could sympathize, saying "I'm sorry, that must have made you feel bad." Additional appropriate responses could include, "Lot of girls play basketball, though. Have you seen the WNBA on television? Do you want to invite the boys to watch a WNBA tomorrow in class so they can see how well girls can play?"

This approach is important for two reasons. First, it gives the aggrieved student a sympathizer, fulfilling her need for a social connection. Second, instead of being told to ignore the boys' attitudes, Lisa is encouraged to find ways to change the boys' minds. Experts believe this imparts a sense of empowerment, and combats the idea that prejudice is a necessary evil.

Fighting prejudice and teaching children to accept and celebrate rather than abhor difference takes a concerted effort, on the part of parents, schools and the community. Some schools begin even earlier, using puppets to teach children in nursery and kindergarten. In 1995, a controversial exhibit at the Chicago Children's Museum confronted children with an antidiscrimination exhibit. Children who visited were hurled with invectives that were often heard in the schoolyard, like spic, chink, nigger and white trash. An interactive videoscreen then asks children to reflect on their feelings about these words and gives them a choice of responses. Though parents were initially concerned, most children report hearing those words every day. They also reported being relieved about the suggestions on how to deal with prejudice (Cohen 1999).

A song from the musical South Pacific goes: "You've got to be taught to be afraid / Of people whose eyes are oddly made / And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade / You've got to be carefully taught." As discussed in this paper, children are aware of difference from an early age. Whether they embrace these differences as a positive or develop prejudice and negative stereotypes thus depends on their social upbringing during this crucial learning period.

As the song goes, they've got to be carefully taught.