Have you heard, the Black Lil Monkey Doll has been changed to Pretty Panda like it's White counterpart (3601 hits)
Who wouldn’t want to buy a Black doll named little monkey for their little girl? What better way to reinforce the idea that people of colour are less than, than by giving a child a toy that plays upon the racialized meme that we are animals. If this doll in and of itself, does not read as racist, perhaps placed alongside the White doll pretty baby, it will become obvious. [Editor's note: The white doll is actually called "pretty panda."
LOS ANGELES -- Costco has pulled a controversial doll from its shelves after customers complained it was racist. The doll is called 'Cuddle with Me" manufactured by BrassKey Keepsakes. It's the headband that is causing the controversy. It reads "Lil' Monkey." The doll is also surrounded by stuffed monkeys. The white doll counterpart on store shelves is surrounded by pandas, with a hat that reads 'Pretty Panda.'
Mary Gustoff, CEO of Brasskey Keepsakes, said the company has apologized for the mistake, and never intended it to be racist. "It's so unfortunate because now it's portrayed as a purposeful act to be disrespectful and that's not true. We really apologize. We don't think in that way. We don't operate in that kind of thinking. We have a really diverse, family operated company that's been around for 28 years. What would we have to gain for heaven's sake?"
Costco is also apologizing for the mistake. Many customers complained the doll was a reference to the term "monkey" which has been used in the past by racists to denegrate African Americans. {Apparently the LA Costco back in August Pulled the "Lil Monkey" Doll Off Shelves made by Brass Keepsakes. Has your local Coscos pulled the doll from it's shelves and replaced it in time for Christmas?} http://www.antiracistparent.com/2009/08/18...
Thanks for the comment Brother Mozell it did make for a good laugh and the Black version of the doll is less expensive than it's Whiter counter part. Yippy Yeah... we can afford to get all our little Black princesses dolls for Christmas with this messed up economy. ((Lol))
Dora I'm happy that the doll has been changed. It was so very necessary don't you think... ((smiles))
Monday, October 19th 2009 at 10:32AM
Jen Fad
Brother Steve my son likes anything that deals with Nick Jr's Curious George, but I am so conscious of racial stereotypes of us being called apes and monkeys that although I want to say you little monkey in a fun way, I won't. Instead I tell him he's so curious like Curious George. Perhaps this monkey ape stereotype goes back to Darwin when he thought Whites come from Chimps, Blacks come from Apes, and Asians come from Orangatangs (spelling ?). I'm not sure, but it's a common knowledge that to call a Black person a monkey, gorilla, or ape is a big No No.
For example.... ..."Darwin's belief that some races (such as blacks) were inferior to others became so widely accepted that, as Haller concluded: 'the subject of race inferiority was beyond critical reach in the late nineteenth century.45 Although Darwin opposed all forms of slavery, he did conclude that one of the strongest evidences for evolution was the existence of living 'primitive races' which he believed were evolutionarily between the 'civilized races of man' and the gorilla:
'At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time, the anthropomorphous apes. . . will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla. ... It has often been said ... that man can resist with impunity the greatest diversities of climate and other changes; but this is true only of the civilized races. Man in his wild condition seems to be in this respect almost as susceptible as his nearest allies, the anthropoid apes, which have never yet survived long, when removed from their native country." 46...
