[Sleeplvr]

Originally Posted by LisaCA

i'm busy trying to find an AA santa for dd's xmas photos. we may end up driving for hours in Los angeles traffic to find one.

You need to fly to Atlanta. We have Kente Claus down here as well as the regular black santa.

[sneezyone]

Here in Seattle, you can call our local Macy's and find out which days ethnically diverse Santas will make their appearance. =) They have black ones, Asian ones, etc....

[LisaCA]

thanks for the tip sneezyone, I'll call around to the macy's.

and I here good things about atlanta, being the best city for young blacks. dh has friends living there. I have this southern phobia, however, so it's not for me. I like to pretend everyone likes me, and seeing the confederate flag every day would just ruin that illusion. And being a vegetarian in the south is just painful .

[SavannahGirl]

Here the portrait studios at some of the JC Penney and Target stores have days when Ethnic Santa visits.

[joskimo]

That's cool that you have ethnic Santa's, I can't imagine we'll have one here. I agree with the original post though that it's bad enough that all the agels and ballerinas are white, but the bunnies and mice too, drives me crazy. My older daughter and I were looking at a FisherPrice catelog that came in the mail and they had the cutest nativity with (yup) and blond baby Jesus. My daughter asked if Jesus was really blond and I told her no, he was somewhere between her color and her sisters. I have an Eskimo nativity, now need to find an AA one.

BTW - wanted to get baby a nightgown so wound up choosing Dora, not white, not AA, but not white.

[Mom2J]

Here's a funny one for you. Our oldest dd grew up with us living overseas with the military. (She's cc) In the military community, the soldiers and airmen volunteer to play Santa at the military store for the Christmas holidays. It's normal to have an AA santa one day, Asian Santa the next, Hispanic the next and so on. No big deal. This is normal for us.

Well, at 2-weeks old, she got her first Christmas picture with Santa- a 20-year old, that had never held a 5 lb. baby and looked scared to death. LOL. The next year at a year old, she WOULDN'T go near the CC Santa, so we went back each day and she would only go sit with the AA Santa. She did this for 5-years. So, there is hope for the rest of the world. Maybe the military is just a little more open to Santa being of all races.

Mom2J

[Michellemomof5]

UGH! I hear the complaints. I have found an awesome solution though. My girlfriend is just starting a photo business. She has taken many pics of my native and AA children and turned them into postcards, greeting cards, and art for our home.

PS. I did find one black baby doll at Target, but it was a BRAT doll and she was dressed like a go go dancer with a tube top on.

[wenrl]

Wow. Thanks for posting this! I can relate.

However, what irks me the most is that we care more than our daughter. She is hispanic, but could care less what her dolls look like. She wants one of everything. When it comes to babydolls though, she always picks out the blond haired, blue-eyed baby. I think that is mostly due to the abundance of choices on white babies versus the one with medium or dark skin-tone. Although much more expensive, I ended up getting her an American Doll baby that matches her.

Too much white gets on my nerves too. Even if she were caucasian I would like her to have lots of great options for dolls of all colors. Diversity is important no matter what color our children happen to be.

I prefer Bratz to Barbies for that reason, even if they do look like 12 inch prostitutes.

[Sleeplvr]

Originally Posted by wenrl

I prefer Bratz to Barbies for that reason, even if they do look like 12 inch prostitutes.

That is my main issue with Bratz. I find it really interesting they decide to make the ethnic dolls look this way. Is the manufacturer buying into a stereotype by making them look like prostitutes? I like the fact that they are multicultural but they went a little too far with trying to make them appear trendy. Unfortunately trendy these days makes you look like a tramp. But I guess that's the gimmick.

[LisaCA]

the Bratz dolls make Barbie look like a conservative intellectual (and remember barbie used to say "math is hard").

many moms of color (particularly some of the latinas I've spoken with) really like them. I'm a tad distressed, like you guys, with the overemphasis on minimal dress, and extreme makeup.

geez, i really hope dd doesn't want these dolls. I know she's not going to want to hear my lectures .

btw, i'm still looking for a not-white santa in the southern california area. called many a mall and they all have "traditional" santas, aka white guys. so if you know of any that are within an hour of los angeles or in San diego county, please let me know.

[MMC66]

Yes bratz look like underage prostitutes but the white ones aren't any less disgusting. As I have preached before, be careful about forbidding your kid from playing with certain toys - it can definitely backfire. Oh and never say never - you'll definitely pay for that one 100 times over Sadly, I speak from experience. I do draw the line with guns though.

Lisa, sorry about the black santa. You should come up here. That's how all the white parents with AA kids check off the 'ethnic exposure" box for the year - very sad. Yikes I sound bitter - maybe another Christmas cookie will help

Martha

[AeroBeachBaby18]

Around here in the suburban area of IL all the santa clauses we have at our mall have been white. My mom's friend took her daughter (AA) to see as AA Santa and she cried the whole time. From our family experience my younger siblings don't mind a white santa as thats how its always been, but a little variety never hurts.

[BethanyB]

I too have noticed all of the white faces on cards and clothes and things. It's funny how aware you become when you have a child of color. I bought my daughter a First Halloween card this year and didn't notice the white baby on the front until I got home. I was very disapointed. The front of the card said, "It's Your First Halloween" and there was a white baby in a pumpkin. Well my daughter is black (VERY light skinned) but black just the same. I felt like taking it back!

Hallmark has some good Christmas cards with AA people on them. I think they call call it the Ebony collection or something.

I have found AA dolls at my stores. Even Pottery Barn has a cute little stuffed AA doll in their catalog. But when it comes to little play sets, the people are white. What is the deal with that?

My daughter is only three months now but when she can play with dolls, she will have white, black, hispanic and Asian dolls to play with. She will have MORE black dolls but I want her to be exposed to all ethnicities.
Before I even adopted my children, one year I bought my little cousin a black doll. She was cute and sang songs. My mom asked my why I bought her a black doll. She thought it was weird. I didn't understand what was so weird. My cousin LOVED it and I don't even think she noticed the doll wasn't white. She was 8 at the time.

It's funny that I'm reading this topic tonight because I saw an adorable doll in Target today. I think it was Fisher Price or something. It was a little boy who talked about his clothing. It said, "My pants zip. My jacket buttons." I would have loved this for my 16 month old son but I wanted a black one. They didn't have one of course.

[LisaCA]

went to a toystore today to buy a birthday gift for the little two year old across the street. dd let out this giggle and squeal and I looked at what she was pointing to: a doll (sigh). we then went to look at the magnetic letters... I think the time is coming (ominous drum roll).

[redhedded]

Bethany, I was just recently thinking of you and wondering how the three of you are doing. I wondered how babe is, of course how babe one is also and how logistically you are doing having to carry babes and stuff up the flights of stairs. Hope all is well. Glad to see you.