Psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark documented internalized racism in their doll studies of the 1940s. When Black children were asked to choose between dolls identical except for skin color, many preferred the white doll and called it nice, while describing the Black doll as bad. The Supreme Court cited the Clarks' work in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 as evidence that segregation harmed Black children.
Internalized racism can show up as colorism, as pressure to straighten natural hair for work, or as doubting one's own abilities. It can also show up as distrust of people from one's own group. These patterns come from centuries of media, schooling and law that ranked whiteness as the standard.
Naming it matters because it shifts attention from individuals to the system that teaches these beliefs. Researchers have linked internalized racism to higher stress and poorer mental health. Ethnic studies programs, accurate representation in media and community spaces affirming identity are among the approaches used to counter it.