Brown-Skinned Barbie Being Sold at a Discounted Rate at Wal-Mart

Barbie is in the limelight again- this time at Wal-Mart. Whether or not Barbie can take the heat is the eternal question. Only this time, the focus is more on Walmart. A brown-skinned Barbie is being sold more cheaply than the same exact Barbie with white skin at a Wal-mart in Lousiana.

According to a Wal-Mart spokesperson, the reason for the difference in price was “low sales” for the Theresa doll, with brown skin. Concerned activist groups see it differently, however; they believe that lowering the value of a darker skinned doll sends a serious and negative message to children with darker skin that they are not as valued themselves.

Some are thinking that the reason for the lagging sales of “Theresa” than her white counterpart may be that white children are only choosing barbies who they feel have similar features and skin color as they do. I’m not sure if I think that this particular argument holds water or not. For one, I don’t know how many children get to choose their own Barbies, and for two, I don’t remember always choosing dolls who looked like me when I was a kid.

My personal guess (and this is definitely not a scientific hypothesis) is that in this particular instance, the parents chose the white dolls for their children because the parents don’t see blacks as equal to whites, despite the fact that we are in the 21st century and have an African-American president with a beautiful family.

The store was in Louisiana, which is not necessarily a state in a region known for its lack of racism; in fact, it’s known for quite the opposite, which is prettily easily observed by people from different parts of the United States. I highly doubt that you would find the same situation in the Northwest, for example, where there is a lower percentage of minorities, but a significantly higher number of PC parents.

As to whether or not the lower-priced Barbie actually devalues minority children is difficult to say. I agree that it is offensive to minorities and groups- there is no reason for a giant store like Wal-Mart to try and save a couple of dollars while at the same time demeaning a minority group. On the other hand, I don’t know how much kids really notice the prices of their toys in the first place, so it might not impact them too greatly.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/black-barbie-sold-white-barbie-walmart-st...