Helping Children See Themselves Reflected in Their Toys: The Importance of Black Dolls

Since dolls were first made available in stores, there has been a large discrepancy between the amount of white and Black dolls. Most major retailers stock far more white dolls than those of any other race. Troublingly, the few Black dolls that are available are usually more expensive than white dolls.

This has major implications for Black children’s well-being and identity development. It can be damaging to a child’s self-esteem to not have dolls that look like them. When Black children don’t see themselves represented in their toys, it can make them feel like they don’t belong.

Perhaps the most famous example illustrating this is the Clark Test. This test was used during the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education to show the impacts of racism on young Black children. The Clark Test involved asking questions to Black children between age 3 and 7 about white and Black dolls. The majority of Black children attributed negative characteristics to the Black dolls, while talking positively about white dolls. A short video of this test can be watched on YouTube.

The Clark Test’s conclusion was that these responses were caused by internalized prejudice, discrimination, and segregation. Seeing the results of this test led the Supreme Court to end public school segregation. The Clark Test still is relevant today in illustrating how this lack of representation harms Black children’s self-worth.

This lack of representation has a thorough history that spans decades. During the 20th century, the majority of available Black dolls were based on stereotypes. Many Black dolls included offensive depictions with enlarged lips and cartoonish eyes. These dolls were an unfortunate product of their time, and represented many of the racist stereotypes produced by segregation and the Jim Crow laws.

In 1911, the first commercial Black doll was created by Richard Henry Boyd. Boyd created the very first Black doll company to mass-produce these dolls. Boyd’s goal was to create dolls that positively represented Black children in a way that didn’t involve stereotypes or caricatured features. Boyd’s dolls were short-lived, and he went out of business in 1915.

In the late 1940s, another Black doll was created by Jackie Ormes. Ormes is most famous for being the first published Black cartoonist with her comic strip Patty-Jo ’n Ginger. The main character, Patty-Jo, was transformed into the first upscale Black American doll. Unlike any other Black dolls available, the Patty-Jo doll was designed to be fashionable. Patty-Jo could be purchased with many different dresses, gowns, coats, shoes, hats, and even special skating and cowgirl costumes. Patty-Jo dolls were designed to make Black children feel beautiful and love how they looked. These transformative dolls have not been forgotten. In fact, they’re still considered a highly collectible nostalgia item today.

Beatrice Wright Brewington had a similar sentiment when she founded the B. Wright Toy Company. She also saw the significant lack of positive representation in Black dolls and sought to change that with her Black B. Wright dolls. These dolls were created with an emphasis on natural beauty, with playable hair and realistic Brown eyes. The B. Wright Toy Company would also go on to create Black boy dolls, as well as dolls representing other ethnicities.

Another Black-owned doll company, Shindana Toys, was opened by Louis Smith and Robert Hall in 1968. Their goal was to provide jobs for community members and rebuild the Watts, California community following the aftermath of the August 1965 riots. Local citizens were employed in the factory to manufacture dolls designed with realistic Black features. Shindana Toys would go on to become the largest manufacturer of Black dolls for the next 15 years.

For generations, Barbie has remained one of the most famous dolls in history. The brand has seen continued social relevance across generations, even to this day with the recent Barbie theatrical film. In 1967, Barbie released Francie, their first-ever Black Barbie. While it was a small step in the right direction, Francie did not have any typical Black features other than her skin.

This is why the first Black Barbie is often regarded as Christie, which was released in 1968. Unlike Francie, Christie’s face mold was created with Black features that allowed Black children to see a positive and accurate representation of themselves. The release of the Christie doll marked the first time a Black doll with culturally appropriate features was available at most major retailers. Later in 1980, Mattel Chief Designer of Fashion Kitty Black Perkins would create the first official line of Black Barbies.

Christie’s commercial success had a large impact on normalizing Black dolls. For the first time, it showed the toy industry there was consumer demand for Black dolls. This also encouraged many other companies to prioritize accurate representation in their designs.

We’ve made significant progress ensuring that Black dolls are culturally appropriate and no longer depict Eurocentric features. However, society has seen glacial progress for the affordability and accessibility of Black dolls.

In 2021, a news story about Walmart charging more for Black dolls went viral. On Walmart’s online store, Kid Connection brand dolls were priced at $25 for the white dolls, and $40 for the Black dolls. This issue is far from isolated to Walmart or that particular brand. Across all major retailers, Black dolls consistently cost more than white dolls. Dr. Sabrina Thomas from Duke University astutely points out that the issue stems from the fact that “manufacturers do not produce Black dolls in proportion to the number of people in the human population.” There is far more selection and variety for white dolls than there is Black dolls.

It is important that all Black children love themselves, understand their beauty, and see positive cultural representations of themselves in their toys. This issue is what inspired Planting People Growing Justice to create The Black Doll Project. The Black Doll Project’s mission is to help Black children see themselves reflected positively in the world. Planting People Growing Justice firmly believes that Black children seeing faces that look like their own fosters self-respect and encourages positive self-esteem.

Planting People Growing Justice sells The Miss Freedom Fighter Esquire Doll, which is intended as a supplemental learning tool to the book Justice Makes a Difference. For every doll purchased, Planting People Growing Justice has committed to donating a doll to a child in need.

There is still much work to be done on this issue. Black children should be able to see dolls that look like them sold at the same prices, and with the same amount of variety as white dolls have on store shelves. Families have the power to change society’s harmful narrative that comes with the lack of accessibility and affordability of Black dolls. Taking the time to have conversations and do activities with your child that promote positive self-esteem, cultural understanding, and discovering their beauty can go a long way.

Check out the Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute website for more information about our programs and services. Follow us on social media for updates about the project at Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute.

If you’re looking for other ways to inspire the next generation of Black leaders with positive representation, check out Planting People Growing Justice’s monthly Leaders Are Readers event. The event is the first Saturday of each month from 11 am - 1 pm.