Barbi Bigots

Sometimes I think there are individuals out there who just have to cause trouble or they can’t sleep at night. Especially pertaining to prejudice and Race. There is always someone trying to make an issue out of literally everything.

Take Walmart for example. This is a huge company that employs many different ethnic groups: red, yellow, black, and white, men, women, and those who fall in between. Now Walmart is being accused of racism because they marked down a black Barbi doll. Somebody took a picture of the white and black dolls side by side, and immediately jumped to the conclusion that the company is racist because the black dolls had been marked down. Walmart denies the allegations. They say the black doll wasn’t selling as well as the white Barbi doll and therefore it was marked down so it would sell quickly to make space for new spring items.

No one mentioned that perhaps it was marked down because they wanted to give blacks a better deal on dolls—because of course that would sound crazy. But no crazier than a huge company losing money on an item just to satisfy racist leanings. No company wants to lose money. The purpose of business is to make money. If something sells well they don’t bother to mark it down.

So, does this mean blacks don’t like Barbi dolls, or that they buy the white dolls instead, or that there weren’t as many blacks shopping at that specific Walmart? It could be a variety of reasons, but surely not because the company is racist. That’s ridiculous. To be honest, I’m often a minority when I shop at my local Walmart. So, will they be marking down the white Barbies here? I don’t know. I don’t shop for Barbies. But they did quit selling the black licorice I like. I don’t think that it’s racist, but I definitely think that it’s wrong.