I think this might deserve a *terrible, no?

Adding video to channels (Terrible) - requested by newtboy.

Did a quick check at target online. From what i could tell there are many dolls not offered with the accessories. Also the dolls without accessories are less expensive then the ones with. So...

http://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=our%20generation&category=0%7CAll%7Cmatchallpartial%7Call+categories


also this

I was worried that might be the case.
Are there 'black' dolls offered there with accessories, and white dolls offered without, from this manufacturer? If so, a pox on that woman and her house...I HATE when people dishonestly race bait like that.

EDIT: I looked for myself, and it seems that there ARE 'white' dolls with no accessories, but NOT 'black' dolls with accessories. Not as bad as suggested, but not good either.

I just went to the Our Generation website. They offer two different types of dolls. Regular dolls and Deluxe dolls with books. All Deluxe dolls are white white white.

Of the 24 regular dolls, 5 are dolls of color -- appears to me to be two black dolls, two biracial dolls, and one Hispanic doll. No Asian dolls to be seen.

The Deluxe dolls do cost more, so I think there might have been a shelf tag problem -- things get moved by customers, happens all the time.

So the problem isn't Target, it is Our Generation, which doesn't offer the product for Target to put on the shelf.

The title of the vid is okay -- it is still Corporate America not getting on board with the diversity thing.

So about the video

All white dolls all get accessories - Wrong(some do some don't)
Black dolls dont get accessories - True as far as i can tell (but its not JUST the black dolls)
and the prices are the same - Wrong (price of deluxe dolls are more expensive)

Although there may be a deeper question regarding why a black doll isnt made with the deluxe option this women is still stating things that just aren't true.

I'll hold my downvote back for now.

You are confusing the website with the store itself.

Just because a doll is available on the website, doesn't mean it is available in the store.

We don't know if she is a reliable witness or if she did some edited camera pans to not show all the white dolls without accessories.

As for the price differential, I work in a retail store. It happens ALL THE TIME that someone wants to buy something and says that the shelf tag says something different. When you go to check, the tag had moved or someone had misshelved something. We don't know if she is deliberately lying about the price difference or if it is an honest error.

Bottom line -- Our Generation does NOT make a little girl doll of color, any color, with their own storybook.

Corporate America is indeed failing our little girls of color. It just isn't Target's fault in this instance, it is Our Generation.

There is a reply in the comments section of this article from the company referring to them making a new black deluxe doll.
http://thenerdsofcolor.org/2014/07/04/playing-around-by-oppression-and-omission/

@bareboards I'm coming around a bit. Focusing more on the bigger picture. May eventually get an upvote out of me. We will see

Here you go a lovely accessory for the black doll.

Then I did it right.

For contrast, consider reading this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/opinion/the-pain-of-the-watermelon-joke.html?_r=0

wtf?

I have a feeling this is one of those things that is perhaps not evil in itself but really just a symptom of the more fundamental problems. Either way, I doubt it had anything to do with the company having some sort of racist agenda.

If I had to guess at a reason, I would say they based their production schedule on previously collected statistics. Those may well have shown that producing deluxe black dolls wouldn't be a good return on their investment and so they didn't. If that's the case, that's fine, and exactly what you'd expect of them in that situation. Their job is to make money, not right society's wrongs.

Kind of. It's hard to know. You are assuming rationality on the part of the business people.

My evidence? The Bechtel Test for the movies. Despite women being 1/2 the population, the moviemakers ignored that audience for decades as they chased what seemed like a better bet -- males from the age of 18-35, or whatever the range of ages is.

Despite the evidence of quality movies about women doing well at the box office, the "rational" business deciders kept saying - oh, that movie that just did well is the exception.

As the exceptions mounted up, FINALLY they are beginning to pay attention. Even then, it was pushed by book sales, you know? Hunger Games. Twilight.

Surely you wouldn't argue that sexism has been absent from the movie theaters all these years?

It may seem like a stretch to make this analogy, but I don't think it is. The blindness of those in charge is LEGION.

Racism can be subtle. The toymakers don't have to saying -- I don't want to make no n****r baby dolls for them to be twisted by the subtle racist stance that little black kids don't read.

I agree with you. It isn't evil.

It is "just" subtle racism that affects little girls standing in a toy aisle.

Well, I would say the important difference is whether their decision was based on statistics and decent market analysis, or whether it was just somebody's assumption. It certainly must be tricky when you have a line of products, the different models of which are specifically intended for a particular race. Then you have to look at the demographics of each race separately. You need racially divided focus groups and so on. Obviously, I don't know their particular story, but I wouldn't be quick to judge the company. Though it would be nice, capitalism doesn't generally allow companies to be fair and just for its own sake. If they're stuck with a quarter million unsold deluxe black dolls in their warehouse after christmas, some other less just company will eat their lunch. The free market isn't going to solve racism.

This situation is a nice, simple but poignant illustration of the effects of chronic systemic racism, but I wouldn't go looking for any causes of it here.

This video hit the internet last January. At the time, the company only had one black doll. Now they have five dolls of color.

eric3579 above made reference to a comment the company made on an internet article about this vid. They corrected the pricing error in the vid (dolls without accessories are cheaper). They also said they were planning on coming out with a Deluxe black doll.

Everything you say is correct and reasonable. I just doubt that they ARE as rational and careful about hitting all markets. You didn't address my comment about the Bechtal test and the irrationality of moviemakers. I have the evidence of an entire industry being irrational. I don't see why dollmakers would be assumed to be exempt from the same forces.

Those in power don't pay attention to those not in power, until the formerly powerless start making noise.

And you do misunderstand the point of this vid. The lack of Deluxe black dolls isn't a CAUSE of racism. It is a RESULT of a white dominated society that minimizes black people as consumers. Maybe. This is all conjecture, of course.

That Deluxe black doll is coming though! Hallejuah!