Trigger Warning: Discussions about potential racialized violence and abortions are in the article ahead.
The existence of racism is no surprise. Still, when people go to strange and unusual measures to prove their investment in the practice, it still manages to baffle the percentage of actually good people in the world. If you haven't had your daily "what the heck" moment just yet, then prepare your heart. A man just made a Barbie to celebrate black genocide (uh-huh) and abortion (uh-huh) and yes, it looks as tragic as it sounds.
The man's genocide Barbie package also has a huge pair of scissors posed on top of the black baby to represent abortion.
The back of the box reads, "Keep abortion legal" and also shows a photo of a real black baby with a red "X" across his face. This is disgusting on so many levels and is clearly an attack on black women and children of all genders. The fact that he was even able to get this genocide Barbie made and ordered from a factory somewhere is also disturbing. Once again, if you haven't had a "what the heck" moment today, then here it is.
In case you are having a hard time understanding just how vile this genocide Barbie is, let's briefly address what "genocide" actually means and how it has played out in world history.
Genocide is "the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group," according to Merriam-Webster. One of the most popular and tragic genocide examples in history is the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of approximately six million Jewish people. Other examples are the genocide in Rwanda against the Tutsis in 1994 which resulted in about 800,000 lives lost and in Darfur which started in 2004 and is ongoing.
Genocide is tragic and results in mass devastation that impacts people long after the initial violence has ended if it ends at all. As you can imagine, it is immensely disgusting and vile to celebrate genocide or to make light of it in any way.
Critics are upset with the genocide Barbie for multiple reasons.
"1st, black women [are] not the only women who have abortions. 2nd, Why do children have to know about abortions? That’s a grown folk convo and grown folk don’t play with barbies. Y’all doing too much!" one critic wrote.
I concur. Abortion-centric toys should not be available for children no matter what side of the abortion argument you stand on.
People are in disbelief that he would promote abortion as a way to encourage the death of black people.
"For some reason, my brain is interpreting his so-called art as something way more evil than you guys are seeing it for. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct, but I will give another way to interpret this box. Notice first how he quotes his statistics," one person explained. "Now look at the box closely, stating "keep abortion legal", and a crossed out black baby. This is his stance to say he is okay with black babies not being born because he doesn't feel they — meaning "US" — don't need to be part of humanity anyway... His way of showing he is okay with the elimination of black people."
That's scary and sad.
Whatever beliefs a person holds about abortion, it should never be used as a way to promote the elimination of a race.
This is especially so when it pertains to toys for children. Many people who have racist beliefs develop them during childhood as they learn them from their parents and other role models in their lives. We should be teaching children to accept everyone no matter their sizes, shape, race, or economic background.
Genocide Barbie is a no-go and the moment it pops up on the internet for sale, I do hope that it is boycotted immediately.
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