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Cuddle with Me Doll Pulled from Costco over Racism Complaint
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by Jordan Yerman | August 14, 2009 at 10:12 am
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Offensive black "Lil Monkey" doll pulled from Costco shelves
sourced by Edmund Jenks
A doll depicting an African-American child wearing a hat that reads "lil' monkey" was pulled from Costco shelves following a customer complaint. The toy, called "Cuddle with Me", features several ethnicities (if plastic has an ethnicity) of dolls in cutesy outfits, packaged with plush monkeys. The Brass Key, the company that makes the Cuddle with Me dolls, also has a "Pretty Panda" version on the shelves, which has not been pulled. The Brass Key has issued a public apology to any they may have offended.
I had a few reactions after seeing this as a quick CNN TV blurb:
- What was the toy company thinking?
- It's offensive to some, but not intentionally so: more like something for Failblog
- I'm surprised that there was only one complaint, as Costco is a pretty busy chain of stores
- See #1
The dolls were sold exclusively at Costco stores in the Northeast and Southeast.
The complaint from Greensboro was the only one the company received, according to Art Jackson, Costco's vice president of general administration
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (82)
at 10:42 on August 14th, 2009
Brass Key is not of this culture!
at 14:59 on August 14th, 2009
Yeah, that really was a 'what was the toy company thinking?' brain fart, as my girls call it, moment.
at 15:20 on August 14th, 2009
I think the fact that this doll was manufactured is evidence that:
Color-aroused behaviors are illegal in Brazil. It is illegal in Brazil to call someone a "monkey" or a "roach without its shell". If it were illegal in the United States as well, we would all live in a greater sense of peace.
at 12:57 on September 8th, 2009
Im not saying that I agree nor dis-agree with this ill marketed doll... Has anyone checked into whether or not there is a white cuddle with me doll? I do however think that you are an absolute idiot for thinking that there should be (another) law in the U.S.A. that once again stiffles the very foundation that it was born unto, FREEDOM! I quote your ignorance: "If it were illegal in the United States as well, we would all live in a greater sense of peace." Peace form or of what? Someone calling another human a monkey? Hey... isnt that what some believe that we evolved from anyway? Maybe we should just refer to monkeys now as non-opposable-thumb-half-humans, or they may try and sue us soon to (if it were up to you im sure)If there were laws for every idiot that wanted one, this country (America) would be in a sadder place than it is already. It's bleeders like you that undermine free speech and accelerate this kind of ignorant, media-frenzied, sociopathic, non-thinking, leftist stupidity.OOOoooo.. Maybe the word "bleeders" should be illegal too!
at 08:11 on October 27th, 2009
No, passing laws to stop using words is stupid. Shall we rename the whole animal kingdom to those who find it offensive. People would still find something else to complain about. Why don't you think about the women in rap video's who are being called bitches and ho's instead of a little doll that has a monkey hugging it. Monkey's are cute little animals, I would be more offended of the way the young kids use the "N" word. As if it were just a regular household name.
at 15:22 on August 14th, 2009
My little girl is mixed (im black my husbands white) and we call her a little monkey. I would have bought one!
at 12:59 on August 17th, 2009
Firstly, children of mixed ethnicity should be referred to as bi-racial. Now when you are called Monkey, do you see it as a term of endearment? No wonder you wanted to buy one. But hey, to each his own....
at 08:02 on August 24th, 2009
I agree Bi Racial is eaiser for a child to understand. Calling a child mixed can be seen in a negative way. Since the human race seems to be stuck on racial or ethnic classes I would rather be Bi Racial that mixed.
at 08:12 on October 27th, 2009
then teach your children your way.
at 09:46 on August 28th, 2009
Calling childen bi-racial who are of African American and White descent is ridiculous. They are black, willl be viewed and treated as black no matter what you call them. Blacks have been multiracial since slavery began, hence the variety of hues and hair textures. Black is a combination of all colors which is why I like to be referred to as black. The majority of black American's are multi-racial....not of African descent alone. In my view, biracial is a term that white women chose to call their children since they are giving birth to alot of them and do not want their children referred to as black. It makes them feel their child is more desirable than a "black" child. A version on closeted racism. This has nothing to do with "embracing" your background. Its about the realities of our society. When your children get stopped by the police because they "look" black, have them tell the police they are biracial and see where that gets them. Get over it, your child is black. You are black. Teach pride in who they really are and not who you would like them to be. You are teaching children that the black side of them is bad and something to be ashamed of.
at 15:08 on September 2nd, 2009
What you are saying is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!! If a baby is mixed, they are not black or white. They are both. So you being all upset because they are being called mixed or bi-racial or multi-racial is stupid. Yes they are part black, they are also part white. Hopefully the child doesnt take a side about what race they are and instead they are just proud to be alive. You have to many problems within your own mind about stereotypes and racism, that is why you are making these statement. Get over your issues. If a white woman gives birth to a mixed baby, clearly she isnt racist or she wouldnt have been with the babies daddy but all you can think about is how to try and find racism in everyone else. Maybe that is cause you are a closet racist? Something for you to think about. If you have a mixed child then you can call your baby what ever you want to. Every home has that same right as you. I think it doesnt matter if you say bi-racial or mixed because it is a true statement. However trying to make your child think that they are only one race black or white by telling them you are black, or you are white, that is wrong.
at 05:05 on November 2nd, 2009
blknaps is right.
Society doesn't usually view biracial (black and white) people as a blend of the two races, but rather as one or the other. And I'd say that 95% of the time that means that a biracial person is characterized as black. In the United States, there is a very narrow definition of "white" and a very narrow view of what a "white" person should look like. On the other hand, a person can be quite light skinned, Jada Pinkett for example, or very dark skinned, like Alek Wek, and they both can be considered black. Often times biracial people must fit into either the black category or the white one and can't get into the "white" race unless they are able to "pass" for white.
I personally hate the racial categories of "white" and "black" because they are primarily based on phenotype (looks) rather than genetics (actual science).
Think about all the "biracial" stars that you know: Mariah Carey, Thandie Newton, Haley Berry, Barack Obama. Are they viewed on a whole by society as black, white, or biracial? If you were to see them on the street, without any knowledge of their background, what would you consider them to be? These are judgements that people pass on biracial children everyday. We all do it. Let's be honest with ourselves. How do those judgements affect the way that we treat them or think of them?
at 09:11 on October 1st, 2009
If someone is half black and half white, then what makes them "black" and not "white?" "White" people also have a variety of skin tones (hues) and hair textures. So what does that mean?? And what do you mean by teaching "pride in what they really are" -- is this so they can continue to nurture the resentment and keep the anger alive (referring to your statement about the children getting "stopped by the police because they look black" and your insinuation that "white women" are somehow ashamed of their "half black" children). Sounds like maybe YOU need to get over it, and stop defining yourself and others by the color of your skin.
at 08:18 on October 27th, 2009
no, you're teaching your children the color is what matters and that is pure ignorance. Teach them to be proud about the person they will become. And how many white woman do you know, if you're mixed and one of your parents was ashamed that is your demon to deal with not the majority of mixed or bi-racial children. If your kids were born in the US they are Americans. Teach them about their heritage without taking away their pride on who they are not what they look like.
at 11:43 on August 31st, 2009
There is nothing wrong with saying that someone is mixed.
at 09:36 on September 2nd, 2009
I was thinking the same thing...On a commercial level, I can not see how the company was so insensitive.
at 20:53 on August 18th, 2009
I call my mine little monkey also. She knows I'm teasing her. I do it at home. I would not call her that in presence of anyone white. I was born in the deep south during the Jim Crow era, when black were referred to as monkeys, spooks, coons, and what we all have heard and know...Nigger. If the hat have been on the monkey, then I would have saw it being cute too.
at 10:30 on August 29th, 2009
Seriously? You call your child Lil Monkey? Are you black? I have to ask the question because I don't know any black mother who would refer to her child as a Lil Monkey. How does growing up in the Jim Crow era feed your desire to refer to your own child with such a derogatory term? There is NOTHING cute about referring to black people as monkeys. Nothing.
at 08:02 on October 5th, 2009
This is the 20th century when will the world realize that we are all created in God's image. But the lil monkey is not appropriate to call any child!!!!! We were not born as apes we are not monkey!!! We do not look like monkeys!! Who ever created the dolls knew what they were doing! A white doll is called pretty panda but a black doll is called Lil Monkey!!! Come on be for real!! What do you think the person that created the doll was thinking???!! Disgusted in the 20th century. Any child born with white and black blood is considered BLACK!!
at 07:22 on August 19th, 2009
then ur a dumb ass
at 11:08 on August 19th, 2009
Wow, you just don't have a clue. God watches over fools and children and your not a child. You're just slow, bless you.
at 05:55 on August 24th, 2009
Of course you would have bought it because you're not black. You can't emphathize with how that sort of disrespect feels... You shouldn't let your daughter think its okay.. and your husband is wrong for letting be so comfortable with it!
at 11:20 on August 25th, 2009
Beloved that's becuase you have become far removed from what "lil monkey" represents in the "black culture". Please don't think that because we live in 2009 and you are married to a white man that racism no longer exists. Furthermore, I find quite ignorant for you to call your child such a name given its historical background between it and our black people......
at 14:08 on August 25th, 2009
Will that be okay with you when one of her classmates or maybe an outsider does it?
at 04:38 on August 27th, 2009
Sometimes people just shouldn't say anything. That was a really stupid comment. Just because you married someone white doesn't mean you forgot where you came from honey.
at 06:30 on August 27th, 2009
I am a black female and my husband is white. I would not have bought this doll at all.
at 10:17 on August 31st, 2009
Forgive me. I did'nt completely read your comment. This is so frustrating
at 10:15 on August 31st, 2009
That's because you don't get it and if your not truthful with her about where she comes from then she wont either. I'm sure you can easly hide behind the lifestyle of your husband, but there are some of us who thinks this is just crazy... especially today! I pray she receives the truth and not just the cover up.
at 10:22 on August 31st, 2009
I left you a message a little further down the page under user name: Pat... Check it out. I see why you would buy one. Help You!!! and you wonder why our children are entering into schools and things and trying to blow stuff up... it's how their raised and their parents issues!
at 10:07 on September 2nd, 2009
Do you think it makes it better that you call her a monkey? That is not an appropriate nick name at all. You may want to look into other names now before she grows up and resents you once she sees the history associated with African-Americans being referred to as monkeys.