Nelson, Kai. “Where’s the Representation?: The Impact of White Washing on Black Children.” Scholars Archive at Johnson & Wales University, 2015, scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=ac_symposium.

In this research paper, Kai Nelson talks about growing up as a black person and not seeing any representation of her race in media and how that affected her and how it can affect other black children. Nelson talks about how African Americans rarely appear in many forms of media, and even with they do appear they are only there to fit certain stereotypes that only worsen the image of African Americans. Young African Americans growing up with a lack of role models that look like them, and due to the stereotypical portrayal of black people in media, young African Americans are more likely to face, such as being targeted by law enforcement. In an experiment conducted by Kenneth and Mamie Clark, children were presented with, two dolls one white and one with dark brown complexion, the children were asked questions about the dolls, and most of them associated the positive traits/ answers to the white doll. Many movies have Black characters have a lesser standing than their white counterparts, for example, in the first Harry Potter there was a shot of 272 students, only seventeen were Black or people of color and only five were given names. Black body erasure is a large factor in how young Black children construct and perceive body image, it causes them to develop a mindset that their bodies and they themselves, are not good enough. Nelson states that As someone who identifies as Black, as a young girl, she wondered why she did not look like the little white girls on TV or in books. When she grew older, she began to resent that she did not look like the light-skinned, blond-haired models in all of the magazines and popular TV shows.

After reading this research paper I can say that I agree with what Kai Nelson talked about and the issues she discussed. Growing up is the most important part of a kid’s life and if they are not being represented or shown that their race is capable or is doing good things then they will grow up resenting who they are instead of embracing it. “There is a widely accepted notion that ‘White’ is the default race. Often there are all-white casts in movies, books, and shows.” This is true and is very wrong as it is not fair to minorities.

The author, Kai Nelson, is a black female who has observed the environment around her as she grew up, and the lack of representation of her race in media platforms made her resent the way she looks, which is very sad and no kid should feel that way.

“Many people are completely unaware of the disproportionate representation of races, cultures, and skin tones.”