But That Doll is Black

Our first night in Johannesburg and we are walking down Melville Street looking for a place to grab dinner, when something catches my eye. Two black rag dolls in the window of a toy store. I had been looking for a black rag doll for a special little girl, and here was a matching pair. One male and one female, and the male was wearing a bow tie, so you know this was meant to be. Right? Well, unfortunately the store was closed as it was late in the day, so I made plans to return before we checked out of the B&B.

Two days later and I finally made it back to the store the morning we were to check out. I was excited to make this purchase as I walked into the store and cautiously asked to see the 2 dolls in the window. Why cautiously? Because in the light of day, I noticed something different about these dolls as I spied them in the window. While they were cleverly dressed, well made and priced right; they didn't exactly look like me. When I say "me" I mean "black people."

After I asked to see the dolls, something else happened that was peculiar.
The shopkeeper (and owner) said, "You will be the 1st black person to ever buy a black doll from me!"
I said, "really?"
She said, "Yes, the white people buy the black dolls and the black people buy the white dolls."
"Strange," I thought as I looked at this doll. "I wonder why that is," I said.
"Well the white people say they remind them of their gulley's! The ones they had when they were children. " she exclaimed, which she explained to me was what they called this kind of rag doll regardless of color.
"That's a relief," I thought to myself.
"Well," I said, "I don't know if I can buy this doll because its black, like black, like I'm not black, not like this. But that doll is BLACK." She looked at me strangely and I said, "You know, like you're not white. You're pink, and none of the white dolls are white."

What followed was an insightful conversation between an American Black man and a White South African woman about the Clark Doll Test:



...And other matters of history, race and children. I explained to her that this black rag doll could have a profound affect on a child, and how I wouldn't want my daughter to look at this black doll and think it was ugly, and perhaps think of herself as being ugly by association. Without going into all the details, the conversation ended like this... The shop owner said, "If you can come back before you leave South Africa, I will have brown dolls for you, and if you don't come back, don't worry - someone else will buy them. Thank you for educating me. May we all continue to educate each other, and evolve together."

With that, we hugged and parted ways.

This is one of the reasons why I love South Africa. The simple act of buying a rag doll in South Africa can have so many implications, and can turn up such complexities and such opportunities.

Written by Frederick A Hanna