Scrolling through YouTube while on my way home from a trip to Destin, Florida, I came across a disturbing video called “Doll Test”. Featuring in the nine minute video was a man who quizzed several black children regarding a black and a white baby doll. Separately, each child responded to questions such as, ’Which doll is pretty?’, ‘Which doll in ugly?, and ‘Which doll is bad?’ ‘Which doll is nice?’. Image my shocked and saddened reactions to their replies. When, the man asked a child why the doll he picked was ugly and he answered “he’s black”. This video, and the comments of the children were a rude awakening. Many memories were conjured from deep within my mind. Memories that didn’t seem so revalent before viewing “Doll Test”. Brought back to mind was an event during the coloring activity with Pre-K. “White!”, the four to five year olds shouted when I asked them what color should the hand be. Another time, while spending the day at Hopewell, a young third or fourth grader girl, complimented me. Before a thank you could vacate my tongue, she blurted out that I also had nice skin because I’m ‘light-skinned’. When I told her she was beautiful, she shook it off because she was ‘black’. Witnessing all of this made me contemplate the matter in which we view ourselves, and …show more content…
All of us have darker skin than she. With the timing temper she has, she numerously fought back in pique fit of frustration and resentment. Never comprehending why Alaila was so hurt about such a small jab, I’d throw it off as just a bad attitude. Now, I understood that she was hurt because she didn’t like being different from everyone else. My sister didn’t feel like she belonged, and we, as our family, conformed to her that she didn’t. We indirectly taught her to defend herself from us. This is why it seems she has such a ‘bad attitude. I was teaching my little sister that she wasn’t ‘right’ just because she was a different color than