By Afua Hirsch
We’ve come a long way since the golliwog, right? These days there are black dolls in every toy shop. Tesco might be known for selling black dolls for the wrong reason – pricing black versions £1 cheaper than almost identical white dolls – but the fact that they sell black dolls is progress in itself.
That is, until you look a little more deeply at the black dolls on the market. Black Barbieland is a pretty scary place. Chandra, Zahara, Trichelle and Janessa inhabit a world of long weaves, stick-thin thighs, facial features that are barely distinguishable from their white counterparts – except for the fact that they are painted brown – and their only concession to so-called black culture is a one-dimensional version of ghetto-bling.
The range is named So In Style, which to cynics like me raises the immediate prospect that black people are having a Mattel moment in the limelight before proceeding to go back out of style some time soon. In this context, Rooti dolls caught my attention. These dolls, created by the UK-based Nigerian entrepreneur Chris Chidi Ngoforo, claim to be the first fashion dolls to speak African languages, and are designed to help the western children of African parents stay in touch with their African heritage.
“The whole idea of Rooti dolls is to create that early interest in our children in their own culture, an appreciation of where they come from, and to improve their own self-esteem,” says Ngoforo. “Many people told us that the existing black dolls on the market look like a white doll painted blacks. Our dolls are created as a real image and identity of us as black people – African, African-Caribbean and African-American. They have wider noses, fuller lips, long curly hair and they come in various shades of black.”
Don’t get me wrong, Rooti dolls are not perfect. They, too, are rocking the weave, with hair so long that most black girls could only achieve by buying extensions, not helped by the fact that one of the dolls has dark blonde hair.
Ngoforo defends the toys – somewhat unbelievably – by pointing out that children are so unaccustomed to seeing ethnically accurate images of black people, that to shock them with afro hair would be too drastic. “You have to remember that children are not used to dolls that look like this, and we don’t want to give them so much of a shocking product that it puts them off,” says Ngoforo. “But we plan was to come out with a next range, which promotes natural hair and more detailed black features. By then we will have arrested the attention and interest in what we are doing.”
I think Rooti dolls are perhaps underestimating the capacity of little girls to embrace their own image. And it is easy to forget how important this is. The famous experiment by Professor Kenneth Clark – argued as part of the landmark Brown v Board of Education, which led to the desegregation of schools in 1950s America – is still cited as relevant by psychologists working with ethnic-minority children in western countries.
The experiment gave black children dolls which were identical except for their skin colour, and found that the majority associated the black doll with negative stereotypes.
It may seem like stating the obvious, but psychologists still emphasise the importance for children of seeing positive depictions of their own image.
“Without dolls that accurately represent their own image, children end up looking up to white dolls, and seeing the white image as being powerful and what beauty is,” says Phillip Jordan, author of a study on racial preferences among black children. “For children to have an image of self that is black and embraces your language and ethnic features is a very positive development.”
This was the Marcus Garvey’s thinking, when in the 1920s the Jamaican pan-Africanist backed his African pride and self-empowerment movement with a factory line producing a black-skinned doll with African features.
Dolls alone cannot address the negative images of black people that are still so prevalent in the western media, but they can help. Plus I think the linguistic element of the dolls is its real strength. So many of children of African parents, myself included, were not raised in our parent’s languages, forcing us to learn them like tourists, an exercise that is usually abandoned in frustration.
I couldn’t find any statistics about the number of people with African parents who want to learn their languages but, anecdotally, the Goethe institute in Accra, which teaches the widely spoken Ghanaian language Twi to beginners, has a record number of students this year and has had to run extra classes to cope with demand.
Ngoforo, driven by his own daughters’ inability to speak his language, created dolls that could teach children African languages. “I have three daughters who love dolls that look and dress like them. But my daughters couldn’t speak a word of Igbo, which is ethnic group in Nigeria that I come from. They were my inspiration to create a doll that could provide a positive image and also teach them our languages.”
Afua Hirsch is the Guardian’s west Africa correspondent based in Ghana.
It was Malcolm X who said “a chicken cannot lay a duck egg” because it does not have it in its system to do so.
Now, to expect a racist world to create so-called black dolls that portray or project black children in a positive light that remains true to their identity, self-definition, heritage and culture is to expect the impossible.
What makes it worse is that new age black creative entrepreneurs themselves have been recreated in the image of the white race (sic) and connot imagine anything outside it. It is for this reason that they justify unreasonable steps to make black children to reconcile with themselves. This is nothing but internalization of racism.
there is absolutely nothing to celebrate in the production of black dolls that are made by people whose primary purpose is to make money or imitate how white people recreate blacks. A capitalist is a capitalist.
If this initiative was about black pride, it would go ahead to just assert – in an uncompromising and accomodating manner – blackness as it knows itself to be without taking into consideration what supremacists have done.
the least that blacks can do to contribute to human development and progress is “to remain true to themselves” and stop worrying about money and racists.
@ Sandile: Perhaps you ought to write a piece against black women who straighten their hair or black youngsters who listen to heavy metal.
@ Lennon A few years ago on a fellowship at Maryland University in the United States I did. I was almost lynched.
I wrote the piece because I was misled by the powerful influence of MTV and Hollywood movies that the weaves and other synthetic materials on the heads of black American women were real.
The backlash was so strong that I learned that there is neither freedom of expression nor critical evaluation of trends in the black American community.
Black women are perhaps the only female species that is not proud of their natural looks. the fact that a handful of white women wear wigs is neither here nor there.
Look, the whole of Africa is free, now, and women are entitled to their misguided choices of self-hate. Comedian Chris Rock has dealt with this issue and there is nothing more to add. It is either black women learn from their mistakes or they remain a weak imitation of white women.
I agree with much of what you say Mr Memela – but – I think the jibe about capitalists is a bit odd. Is there a deterministic reason why all black people should be socialists or communists? By the way, communists care about money just about capitalists, they just prefer taking it from others rather than working for it themselves. And capitalism hardly is the preserve of white people only. After all, Karl Marx was a Jewish German living in London, not an African. Communist came from Europe. I think the automatic idea that all black people should be socialists is a little deterministic, and does not respect individual wisdom and agency – of which there is much in Africa. And much to be proud of in Africa – as you point out.
A wonderful, insightful article that shows how western culture can begin moving away from negative stereotyping of blacks and how Africa needs to be more proactive in building positive black image for our kids. Thank you Afua Hirsch! I’ve noticed that other cultures Asian, Indian, South American etc. have already begun the process of manufacturing “ethnic” dolls and creating media content for kids that project their own images positively.
The World Conference against Racism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Conference_against_Racism), is where many of these issues should be addressed. Unfortunately, important issues like pervasive racism in the media, the genesis of negative stereotyping of indigenous people and cultures, will never be addressed while its constantly being hijacked by the nauseating Israeli-Palestinian infighting.
@Sandile… just a touch of a hint:
how sad must your politicized and “none racist” world be, that not even innocent children’s dolls of any shape or color remain innocent enough, not to be made into racial and capitalist enemies? Fanaticism? Bless you, playing with the dolls of Marx, Lenin or Mao… a Malcolm X, some shot policeman, murdered women or raped girls!
Why than, did nobody in your “none racist” and so humanly developed world come up before anybody else with pre school education- never mind schooling- and the effort to develop the human brain from birth in social & human skills- valued already by an ancient Confucius?
Just to add some aggravation with a quote:
“Profit is a dirty word only to the leeches of the world, They want it seen as evil, so they can more easily snatch what they did not earn”
@Afua, the adage of “the blind leading the blind” and how ”gullible” some are, must surely apply here. How a doll can help anyone to stay in touch with any heritage must surely be the wildest claim I have ever come across. For those of us who played with dolls, can anyone of us recall any significant claim to anything other than it being a tool to act out our imagination. It is sheer opportunism to claim that these dolls will play any significant role in a society other than to continue depicting blacks in general but Africans in a particular way.
@ Sandile: I can understand that sort of thing in US since whites are the majority and most of their TV programs and movies seem to cater specifically to whites. (I’m currently watching season two of ’3rd Rock From the Sun’ and the only regular black character is Dick’s assistant, Nina).
I agree with you regarding Chris Rock. Admittedly I haven’t seen a lot of his work, but he managed to capture a major stereotype in how to avoid being harrased by the police when he said “get a white friend”. Funny and yet a sad reflection of society.
George Carlin also made a good point when he asked: “…when did the word ‘urban’ become synonymous with the word ‘black’?”
It has definitely affected South African culture. The number of black women I’ve seen who have started using straightener over the last 10-to-12 years is astonishing. While it’s not my place to question their choices, I’m forced to wonder why this is. Then again, look at celebrities like Beyoncé Knowles and you’ll find the answer.
I don’t know if you’ve ever taken a stroll don’t St George’s Mall, but if you have then you must’ve seen the infamous Bart Simpson statue. ’nuff said.
Sandile, you are so racist it scares me.
When I was seven, in the late 50s, I had a black doll in the UK. My parents gave her to me for Christmas and she was much loved.
When we came out to SA in 1959, my sister and I were allowed to bring five toys/books each, to keep the weight down. The rest of our toys were given away. Somewhere along that path my black doll disappeared; but then, my dad was South African and would have understood more about apartheid than the rest of us.
Do you enjoy living your apartheid dream, Sandile?
There are probably two reasons colour becomes the real issue with black dolls: it’s expensive to manufacture an entirely different form (the market must be tested) and kids don’t analyse features as thoroughly as you do.
@ Tofolux. That is an interesting point. I understand your sentiment, but also appreciate that by not having ‘multicultural’ dolls does not accurately reflect the world we live in. My daughter (at a tender age of 2) has dolls of colour. Of her choosing, I hasten to add. Plus, she hasn’t been around long enough to know discrimination, so she is truly colour-blind.
Reminds me of a story I heard from a client in the early 90s. A young girl was talking to her grandmother about her new friend at school called Peter. The granny, being a little old school I guess, was curious to know the race of the new friend, so she asked her grand daughter. The grand daughter responded: “I don’t know Gogo. I’ll have to ask him”.
@Afua. Perhaps the reason that ‘Barbie’ manufacturers have merely used the same mold re-coloured is a cost-cutting exercise. Having new molds made is expensive. Possibly once the market is well tested, they will produce new ‘Afro-Molds’? Regarding linguistic ability of dolls, the same applies… production costs decline as quantities increase. But I think the Rooti Dolls sound a marvelous idea – only hope this goes well enough to be a financial success.
Many African people colour their hair (red & blonde often), just as those of European origin do. Funny, you don’t see many Asians doing it though. And of course huge numbers of Whites try to become darker…. often to the extent of damaging their skins. And how about perms?
I think African women (& men) in African clothing look magnificent, and feel it is a pity more don’t dress ethnically. However, the (now highly boring & practical) clothing worn by ‘Westerners’ is probably easier in this work-a-day world. Even a lot of Asians go for it, which is also a pity. Probably for the same practical reasons.
By the way, as a Scot myself – are there any Gaelic-speaking dolls? No? Shame. Probably for same manufacturing costs as detailed above. But our kids were brought up to be well aware of their heritage, together with a lively interest in the culture of others.
@MLH, noting that you are accusing Sandile of racism, can you PLEASE point out where he does this?
Sandile Memela #
Women are women – regardless of their genetic skin colour. This I can promise you. White women will lie in the sun until skin cancer sets in so they can be browner, they will spend half their salary in a hairdresser to have curlier / straighter / thicker / thinner hair and don’t even begin to look at the different shades of dye that we torture our hair with. As far as bodies go – our plastic surgery statistics speak volumes
Just accept that it has nothing to do with you (or any man) and that the female species will ALWAYS be unhappy with what Mother Nature handed to her. Maybe that is why women are more inclined to see our fellow sisters as sisters and not just a colour code?
As for the dolls – I’ve never been too thrilled with the white kids and their barbies with their impossible features either. Like the airbrushed photos, they set kids up to become insecure adults …… leading to those many hair dressing mistakes
@ MLH: I’d have to echo Tofolux’s question because I didn’t see anything racist in Sandile’s comment.
Nothing at all racist in Sandile’s comment – both are reasonable and well argued – I think SA is beset by lazy thinking in which just about everything is labelled racist which is such a worn out meaningless concept anyway. Mr Memela’s comments were wise as always.
@Sandile: A thought or two:
I agree with you, but only a bit, about “this racist world.” Why only a bit? Simply because no-one can deny that there are racists, however there are also many, many who are not.
When I shave and look in the mirror, I cannot deny there is a white skin reflected in that mirror. When I interact with my employees, my eyes cannot deny seeing black skins, brown skins, and white skins.
But what I do is judge each one on who they are. Is it a good person, trustworthy, reliable, someone who respects others and deserve respect – and I find that skin colour doesn’t matter at all.
I try to instil pride in all my employees about who they are, and to achieve as much as they can in life. Rather than blame someone else – the “whites” or the “blacks” – and remaining a victim, I have seen many become empowered and proud of themselves (without having to look down on others, because it is a personal pride).
Sadly, it is those (black, white, and brown) who did not make it (due to deceit, theft, lying, laziness, etc.) who have named me “k*** boetie” or “racist white,” but I will not let that stop me from looking for the value in every person.
For you, I would say: You have many things to be proud of. Build some more. And try to not fixate too much about racists of all kinds and hues.
PS. Empirically, I would say my “good” employees and the “bad” employees are evenly distributed across all groups. Race plays no role at all.
@Lennon, a black American woman by the name of Madam CJ Walker became very rich by manufacturing hair care for black women in the early 20th century. The trend of black women straighting their hair was started by people in show business and spread all over the US. Later, in the middle of the 20th century blacks from all over the world started to straight their hair.
Where does on one draw the line with “Pride”?
Only when it suits you?
The imaged perceived and the image portrayed by blacks as a race is remotely aligned with what you think is happening around you. Stop whinging and get on with life.
I for one would swear that some here are closet racists sitting on the fence wishing to break the mold of the promoted image that blacks are not racist. The latter funny enough is a black created stereotype that always has a proviso that allows them to condemn another race or creed but not accept criticism or the responsibility.
@Jandro, I think it was Madiba amongst others whom echoed this notion of freeing oneself from the ”chains of oppression” and what he meant was obviously that of the mind as well. But let me say this, deracialisation begins with the self. Inasmuch as we accept that society moulds us, we needs to ask ourselves if those practises and thoughts are still acceptable. When you start the process of deracialisation, you stop yourself from the practise of racial classifications. In fact, you need to stop yourself from thinking in racist terms. If you can do that, you have started the process, if you havent then of course the classification remains in your thought processes and you can never therefore identify a person outside a racial construct. I hope this is not over-the-head thinking.
The fact that black Africans and Afro-Caribbeans stream into majority-white countries means they must in some sense associate white with better than black. Smaller numbers stream into the Orient, so presumably those people must associate yellow skins with better than black. Emigration as undertaken by Africans (and anyone else) is essentially voting with their feet: they have given up on their own kith and kin and moved to live with other ethnicities. Mostly they can achieve more as minorities elsewhere than they can as majorities in their own communities. Call it economic migration or whatever you will, that is essentially what it amounts to. Once those communities reach a certain size, they associate with each other more than the host community, and start to develop a political consciousness that sets them apart from their host communities. In other words, they forget their historical circumstances and cease desiring to emulate their hosts. That is neither good nor bad (though it usually causes fractures within the host society) but is simply a statement of the development of political consciousness. These dolls are a manifestation of that, and are a litmus test of growing African consciousness in Europe, for example. As the number of Africans desperate to leave Africa (and ones learns of hundreds drowning in the sea virtually each week), this process will accelerate until black dolls will predominate at the expense of white, indigenous dolls. And so dolls mirror society.
Gotta love this. NuSAns logic at work here.
White people are to blame for not manufacturing black dolls. When they DO decide to manufacture them, they are blamed for not making them in full black likeness (ignoring the fact that the white dolls aren’t in full white likeness either).
Make your own damn dolls if it offends you so much!
@ Tofolux. “When you start the process of deracialisation, you stop yourself from the practise of racial classifications. In fact, you need to stop yourself from thinking in racist terms. If you can do that, you have started the process, if you haven’t then of course the classification remains in your thought processes and you can never therefore identify a person outside a racial construct”.
For once I absolutely agree with you, but how I wish in this case you would practise what you preach! Deracialisation does indeed begin with the self, and we (all of us) should always question our perceptions and assumptions of people so that we don’t fall into the trap of negative and harmful race-based stereotyping.
I come from a mixed-race family of different cultures so my upbringing, as Jandr0 has also said, predisposes me to rather consider the value of the individual.
I hope that we have now made some progress in understanding, although we may not always agree because we are two individuals with different life experiences.
@Sandile, Malcolm X was a pimp, male hooker, drug dealer and a thief. He also processed his hair and was called Detroit Red because the way he wore his hair. Malcolm spent time in prison for stealing and selling dope to other blacks. He slept with white women and pimp off black women to white men.
While in prison Malcolm X was converted to the American black Muslim religion. He was never active in the civil right movement and set on the sideline during this period. I don’t understand why some people are always quoting Malcolm X for saying nothing.
@Tofolux, you are right to say I think it was Madiba because it wasn’t him that coined this phrase. In Du Bois book “Soul of the Black Folks” he talks about freeing oneself from the oppressor. When you get a chance, you should read this book because it’s very interesting.
@Hugh, I dont get your opening line. Also, you cannot talk about racism amongst blacks when you havent dealt with anti-black attitudes and racist PRACTISES. To talk about racism amongst ”black’s (whatever that means) is DEFLECTING the issue and a knee-jerk response to racism.
@Sandile….Africa is free?……hahahhahaha
@MLH, I think you owe Sandile an apology.
@Marianne, if you have been exposed to certain priviledges why is it that it is I who was educated under a tree, need to explain a technigque called conceptualisation to you? Its obvious that most of what is being said goes over the head but it is sheer opportunism to then call into question that which you clearly did not ”get”. Not only do I feel embarrassed by the lack of cognitive ability in your instance but to expect me to explain the simplest of concepts is really high maintenance. Your historical responses suggests a certain leaning towards something which is clearly NOT non-racial, democratic or non-sexist. Hence please go further to affirm your comment.
@Sterling, it is sheer opportunism to insult Malcolm X by not accounting in totality his contribution to society at large. I think it is your very same Christianity that shows there are many stories of people who had an imperfect pasts but rose above themselves to become extremely brave individuals. If you personally cannot show any history of contribution by yourself to the struggle of man/woman, then what elevates you to this level of arrogance to even judge? This is extremely ludicrous and I must venture to say that maybe we are dealing with someone who is quite cuckoodoo. But let me leave you with this. Malcolm X, his history, his resolve, his bravery will forever be written in the history books. It will remain even we have gone. Much like all our icons, people we aspire to, we know that in some cases as human beings they had their flaws but their sheer bravery, at all costs, will always be our guiding light.
@Tofolux, Malcolm by his own admission was a pure street hustler and did all the things I talk about in my comment. He wrote a book and talked about his life on the streets and prison. Malcolm processed his hair and was called Detroit Red on the streets of Detroit. When he went to prison the last time, he was recruited by the Black Muslims of America, He became like a preacher for this religion. As he grew popular among his followers, the Black Muslim headquarters in Chicago began to feel threaten by his popularity.
He never took part in the civil right movement that was going on at that time and criticized Dr. King for leading the civil right movement. He was warned by the headquarters in Chicago to stop holding press conferences and berating Dr. King. The final straw was when President Kennedy was killed and he said the chickens came home to roost. He was kicked out of the Black Muslims religion because the leaders felt his mouth would trigger a FBI investigation that could send many of them to jail. Malcolm X never went to the Southern part of the US where all the problems were at that time. He did nothing for the civil right movement that took place in the US. Malcolm X record speak for himself and I am not making this up.
@Tofolux, there was nothing brave about what Malcolm X did during that period. The brave people were in Dixie fighting for the rights of the blacks to be treated as human being. People such as, Rosa Park that refused to give up seat and was put in jail. Malcolm X went to jail but, it was not fighting for civil rights of the blacks in the US.
@Sterling, we have long recognised and accepted the fact that you are not open-minded. But to be this negative about Malcolm X’s contribution to society at large speaks to your unprogressiveness. But noting this negativity, what do you have to say about Mary Magdalene and all others in the bible in particular that were transformed by a higher sense of self and unselfishness? If anything, there are many a clear example that good can come from bad. But this judgemental and narrow outlook and this need to exert your anti-blackness comes across as extremist.