The Impact of Emotional Appeals, Racial Bias in Medicine, and Tragic Outcomes for Black Infants

When Thurgood Marshall struggled to convince the Supreme Court about segregated schools, he employed the doll test's emotional resonance. Black children preferred the White doll and deemed the Black one ugly, causing distress. Although colleague Spottswood Robinson criticized this approach, the justices recognized the test’s significance, leading to the 1954 landmark ruling against segregation. Likewise, Rev. James Bevel’s Birmingham march in 1963 sparked national outrage, prompting President Kennedy's support for civil rights, revealing the ongoing importance of emotional evidence in advocating for social change.