Last month, antiracist scholar and professor and grifter Ibram X. Kendi wrote a piece for The Atlantic describing the personal hell he and his partner were put through when their daughter started playing with a white doll.
Well, it seems that this is officially a serious problem in the antiracist community, at least if this “Perspective” piece by Washington Post contributing columnist Damon Young is any indication:
Perspective: Someone gave our daughter a White doll. How do we, um, “disappear” it?https://t.co/s6T5vEBKqP
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 26, 2022
We still don’t know how it got into our house. Maybe it was a present from my mother-in-law. (She regularly sneaks toys and snacks to our kids like they’re prisoners and Cheetos gets them phone card minutes.) Maybe it was borrowed from a classmate. Or maybe it conjured itself into existence through alchemy and spells. Either way, two months ago, when my wife and I noticed that our 6-year-old daughter was playing with a White baby doll with long blond hair, our immediate thought was “Wait … where did that come from?” And then, after watching her dote on it for two days, our thoughts shifted.
“So … how do we get rid of it?”
“How do we get rid of it?” Shouldn’t you be saving that for your pro-abort “Perspective” piece, Damon? Get it together, man.
We’ve also been intentional with buying her dolls and toys of color. Black is always the preference, but we’ve made exceptions. (Her Moana blanket is still a favorite.) White dolls, though? We haven’t officially banned them. There is no sign on our stoop saying “No Dogs or Malibu Barbies.” But if we’re at a store, and the only dolls for sale are White, we’ll just be leaving doll-less that night. Our rationale is simple. The physiognomy of a baby doll represents what the person buying it considers to be precious. And a decision to gift a White doll to our daughter — who’s already aware of the ceaseless cultural proselytization of Eurocentric beauty — could communicate to her that we value those features more than hers.
So, if we’re understanding this correctly, a black child isn’t obsessed with race and just wants to play with a doll because she likes the doll … and that’s a bad thing?
I also thought passive-aggressive warfare might work. Let’s say she brought Daisy to dinner.
Me: I’m sorry.
Her: What’s wrong?
Me: We’re having pizza, and Daisy’s gluten-free.
Her: What does that mean?
Me: That means Daisy needs to sit in the garage.https://t.co/VyHD7VM9Yr— Damon Young (@DamonYoungVSB) July 25, 2022
Man. Damon really hated this doll.
Recommended
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 26, 2022
Parents of the year.https://t.co/Y5W3N32DPZ
Fighting doll-based systemic racism.
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) July 26, 2022
Progress!
“White dolls, though? We haven’t officially banned them. There is no sign on our stoop saying “No Dogs or Malibu Barbies.” But if we’re at a store, and the only dolls for sale are White, we’ll just be leaving doll-less that night.” https://t.co/4e5KB0zJMs
— Thomas Chatterton Williams (@thomaschattwill) July 26, 2022
Boy, this antiracism stuff seems awfully racist if you stop and think about it. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? Antiracism can’t be racist! It’s right there in the name!
This made me sad to read https://t.co/9IoCYAReXD
Why can't we just let kids be kids & play with toys? Why does everything have to be turned into drama? My kids had a diverse selection of toys both in shades of skin on dolls & traditional male/female stuff. Let them play!
— AllycynWonderland (@AllycynWndrland) July 26, 2022
"When my wife and I noticed our daughter was playing with a black baby doll with kinky black hair, our immediate thought was, 'Wait… where did that come from? How do we get rid of it?'"
Imagine a white dude getting that published in the Washington Post.https://t.co/UuG2XP3pOs
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) July 26, 2022
Well, one of the tenets of antiracism is “It’s only racist when a white person does it.”
(To be clear, a white dad writing that about his daughter’s black doll would indeed be racist and WaPo would indeed deserve to be flayed for it.)
Reverse the color here and this account would have been suspended. People all over would have been outraged. Perspective my ass!https://t.co/VffpnKkqok
— Darla (@darlaindallas) July 26, 2022
As with so many other words in the English language, "perspective" has come to mean its opposite. https://t.co/UuG2XP3pOs
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) July 26, 2022
You really want to help your daughter, Damon? Then follow this simple advice:
It's just a doll. Don't teach your kids racism.#StopRacism https://t.co/PQ4u6zjja4
— Abby (@NoCRTinSchools) July 26, 2022
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