It is true that works of the African American Psychologist, Dr. Kenneth Clark was heavily relied on by the United States Supreme Court in Brown V. Board of Education (1954) and substantially had an influence in its decision. It should be appreciated that prior to the Supreme Court reaching the decision to outlaw the racial segregation in the Education sector, the Supreme Court in its decision in Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of state laws that required segregation in public facilities.
Based on the foregoing, it is obvious that the Supreme Court had to be moved for it to overturn its own decision and Dr. Kenneth Clark’s work was the perfect instrument to do so. It also has to be appreciated that the circumstances then were different, racial discrimination was on the extreme but times have changed. Racial discrimination has substantially declined over the years and the African Americans have progressively realised their civil rights therefore, Brown V. Board of Education (1954) has no relevance now. It is also noteworthy that laws are dynamic and the emphasis should be on the spirit and intention of the current anti-racist laws rather than their effect on the face value.
Dr. Kenneth Clark’s doll test was an indication that African American students were growing up while being psychologically nurtured that they were inferior to the whites. The fundamental rights and liberties of the African Americans’ were being violated contrary to Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment and this could not be seen by lay people. It was after the Dr. Kenneth B. Clark’s “doll test” was presented before the United States Supreme Court; that the court realised that indeed the civil rights of the African Americans were being violated by state laws that required racial segregation and it is also then that the United States Supreme Court realised that its earlier decision in Plessy V. Ferguson needed to be overturned. If the whole nine-member bench of the Supreme Court was convinced that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal, why should anyone not be?
References
Clark, K. B. (2013). Soylent Communications.
G., M. R., & M, W. C. (2007). Law and mental health: A case-based approach. New York: The Guildford Press.
