In her latest YouTube vlog, Barbie recalls the importance of global movements against racism. It also addresses the issue of white privilege. Barbie president?
On October 7, 2020, the YouTube channel of Barbie, the world famous doll, uploaded a brand new video, vlogging type: "Barbie and Nikki are discussing racism." The principle of the chain: with her Barbie tone, the young blonde woman deals with various topical subjects, such as racism here. "It's not easy to talk about it, that's exactly why we have to talk about it", declares the doll to its 9.7 million subscribers. "Millions of people around the world are rising up to fight racism, and they are doing it because, too often and for so long, people have been treated unfairly, and in some cases even hurt by others to because of the color of their skin ", adds Barbie.
Daily anecdotes about racism
Throughout the video, Nikki, Barbie's friend, recounts all the times she has been wrongly targeted or treated unfairly because she is black. “Barbie and I had a sticker sale contest on the beach last month. We parted ways and took different directions to see who could sell the most. While I was on the boardwalk, the safety of the beach stopped me three times. The officer thought I was doing something wrong ", she explains. The young girl also shares another anecdote concerning a perfect mark obtained in an entrance examination in a French club. The teacher then told her that she only got that high score because she was lucky, not because she was smart. After hearing this, Barbie asks her: "Why didn't you stay at the club to prove him wrong?" Nikki retorts: “Usually when I talk about these things people make excuses. They say things like, 'Well, maybe you should have had a permit to sell on the beach.' But those are just excuses. People say these things because I'm black, and they make false assumptions about me. "
White privilege
In the rest of the video, the two protagonists explain that the white privilege "is not just the addition of opportunities, but knowing that you don't constantly have to prove people wrong or defend yourself", even before doing anything. "It's not fair, because it means white people have an advantage they haven't won, and black people have a disadvantage they don't deserve.", says Barbie. Nikki then answers Barbie: "Do you listen to me and support me? It is useful".
A committed and noticed video
Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls at Mattel, Inc., told Insider media that the video is part of the brand's efforts to address current issues. "We have made a commitment to the black community to use our global platform, including Barbie herself as a blogger on YouTube, to raise important topics like racism."said Lisa McKnight. “Being an ally involves having difficult conversations to better understand discrimination, which is why we hope that by engaging Barbie and Nikki to explore these conversations in a child-friendly format, we can spark productive discussions in families. and empower our next generation of leaders to become advocates for change, raising their voices against racism ", continued Lisa McKnight.
While some Internet users have found that the toy brand has "crossed the line" with her latest video, others were pleasantly surprised to see this decades-old doll tackle the concept of white privilege, which is essential in deconstructing relationships of racist domination.