Trends in Racial Self-Image of Black Children: Psychological Consequences of a Social Movement

Abstract

The modification of mental activity is often a goal and/or an effect of a social movement. In twentieth century American society an important series of social movements has focused the attempts to improve the status of black people. It is clear that there have been legal, economic, and political changes in American black-white race relations over the course of the last fifty years.1 In this paper, the question of whether psychological effects can also be found is considered. Specifically, the effect of black social movements on the racial self-image of young black children is investigated and analyzed. Although there has been a wealth of social psychological research on the ethnic preferences of children in the past 40 years, relatively little work has focused on changes over time. In an extensive review of psychological and social science investigations of children's ethnic preferences, Brand, Ruiz, and Padilla2 considered the. effects of many variables, such as social class, region, and race of interviewer on children's ethnic preferences and identifications, but mentioned the issue of changes over time, and the possible effects of black social movements on black children's