Diversity Begins with Dolls

I’m telling you, put brown all over your house. Check your toy box. See what’s there. Does it feature all white children? Great! Nothing wrong with that. How about add some browns? Lots of them. Go crazy on Amazon Prime and buy a set of black doll house dolls that show brown in every shade and in all ages. How about add some Asian dolls too? Native American? Your sweet little munchkins will love them. Yes, go absolutely crazy buying up the children of the world. You won’t regret it.

Got girls? Get Barbie. Her friends come in every shade as well—though you may have to order online. Depending on where you live, a simple trip to Walmart can leave you wondering. You’ll start to see the gaps on the toy shelves. Sigh. Then you’ll be tempted to complain. Don’t toy companies know there’s more than one skin shade? Actually, they do. And the “times” are improving on this one. But your local shops will order what sells the most. (Please, stores, I beg you keep more black dolls available.) Toss aside the angst and get shopping. (Because you really don’t have time to be angry. Simply make a kind request to the store manager and move on. More than likely, they’ll be happy to help.)

One Christmas shopping trip, I snagged a black Ken doll for my then two-year-old son and thought I’d found a treasure. Turns out, I had. The dude had so many adventures, he lost a leg–and spent the rest of his days as a merman wearing a sock for a fishtail. (I still fall over laughing over that one!) More recently, my husband spent hours online seeking black Lego men. Whatever it takes, as soon as possible, get black-kid toys in your house.

When my daughter turned seven, we celebrated her birthday with new church friends. All of those sweet, generous people brought her a gift. Nearly every one of those gifts opened revealed a white baby doll. Every single one. I recall watching one of the parent’s facial expressions change from uncertainty to panic as they realized what they’d chosen. I don’t blame them—not at all. We tend to reach for what we are. It’s nature, I guess. But this is why you’ll need to gather on your own. Not too many people will even think about these details, especially if you live in a largely white community like we did at the time. And she really did enjoy each one of those dolls…BUT WE HAD HER COVERED. Another thought? Hand out black dolls to friends—help them along with toy diversity. Playing with all shades makes playing with all shades normal, you know? Even makes them pleased with the skin they’re in.

By the way, my daughter’s favorite Barbie? It’s not the black one. And I’m good with that. She chose the doll that looked like she was wearing a gymnast’s leotard. Yes, my daughter-the-gymnast, inspired beyond skin-shades.