Barbie (the Doll) Tackles Racism in Her Latest Viral Video

"Too often, and for such a long time, people have been treated unfairly," says Barbie in her new vlog about racism, and the Internet approves!

09 October, 2020

Barbie (the Doll) Tackles Racism in Her Latest Viral Video

Who could have ever guessed that Barbie would emerge as one of the most popular vloggers of 2020! The subject of Mattel doll Barbie's latest vlog? Systematic racism.

Barbie Vlogs is a series on the official Barbie YouTube channel where the animated character and her friends do challenges and dive into various topics. To help viewers and young children better understand racism and the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter movement, Barbie shares her platform with her friend Nikki (an African American doll), who relates personal stories of racial stereotyping from security personnel and educators that she experienced as a Black woman.

“So, there is a huge movement going on. People, millions of people across the world are standing up to fight against racism. And they’re doing this because too often, and for such a long time, people have been treated unfairly. And in some cases, even hurt by others because of the colour of their skin. This stuff isn’t easy to talk about, which is exactly why we have to talk about it,” says Barbie in her vlog titled “Barbie and Nikki Discuss Racism.”

Barbie and Nikki’s chat highlights how white people often get advantages while black people are discriminated against, creating scenarios in the video that kids can understand. Watch the video below.

Over the past few years, Mattel has been working towards rebranding their popular doll, making her more physically and racially diverse and even creating dolls modelled after inspiring women and role models such as Florence Nightingale and Rosa Parks. This latest video by Barbie has won the approval of Twitter and netizens and is going viral for all the right reasons.