Did you know that Mattel’s Barbie has a YouTube channel? Last week on her channel Barbie addressed white privilege, and racism in one of her videos that has amassed over 570 thousand views. The description for the video reads, “ It’s important to have ongoing conversations about standing up to racism, so I invited my good friend Nikki to join the vlog to share her experiences about when she has been treated unfairly. I am grateful for her honesty and friendship. To be a good friend, it’s important to listen, to understand, and to notice when bad things are happening to other people and to do something to help stop it. I hope that after hearing from Nikki, you too, will be inspired to continue taking a stand against racism.”
The video starts with Barbie addressing the Black Lives Matter movement, and the marches that have been happening as of recent. She says, “This stuff isn’t easy to talk about, which is exactly why we have to talk about.” Then Barbie’s friend Nikki begins to talk about the experiences she and other Black people face everyday while doing the same things white people do. Nikki then goes on to tell about two different incidents in which she was discriminated against. The first incident she talks about happened at the beach while her, Barbie, and friends were selling stickers and was questioned by the police. The second incident she recounts is about a teacher telling Nikki that she got a perfect score on a French entrance exam because she got lucky, and not because she was smart.
Barbie notes that the way that Nikki is being treated is unfair and says, “That’s not fair because that means that white people get an advantage they didn’t earn, and Black people get a disadvantage they don’t deserve. Nikki goes on to tell Barbie that her listening and being supportive is helpful, but that it is important to keep on reading and learning about Black history.
Via: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCzwoMDgF_I