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News & ArtsFriday, May 21, 2010
International An Asian Girl With a Blond Doll Found Wandering the Streets of Vancouver
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, May 21, 2010 at 8:55 AM
This is the girl:
- Vancouver Police Department
Vancouver, BC's police only know this about her:
She is a two-and-a-half foot tall Asian girl, with black hair cut with bangs in a bob-style cut. She was wearing a pink-lined flower-print coat and carrying a cloth doll with blonde hair when she was found in the 100 block of East Pender Street, which is between Columbia and Main.Though I hope she is soon reunited with her parents, it's impossible for me not to notice the racial difference between her and her doll. It's amazing to see this most striking sort of racial conditioning persisting not only outside of the black community but also in this day and age.
1
What? Are you nuts?
A little girl is abandoned or lost in the streets, and you're making this an issue of the racial discrepancy of her doll.
You're not a parent, are you?
What? Are you nuts?
A little girl is abandoned or lost in the streets, and you're making this an issue of the racial discrepancy of her doll.
You're not a parent, are you?
6
What if it was plush doll of a stuffed animal? Would that make a difference? Maybe she ran away because her adopted brother tried to run her over in the driveway out of jealously.
9
@1, 2: He is a parent, of at least one. I recall him making reference to having a daughter, when talking about how Marxism somehow colors the way he parents or some such batshittery.
10
Why does it matter what color the hair of the doll is? Maybe it matters to you what color the doll's hair is because you're a racist. It's a girl with a doll.
11
That is a scruffy looking doll being held by an abandoned child in the worst neighbourhood in my whole country. Whoever gave her that doll most likely did not have the luxury of choice when they were giving it to her. God I hope nothing too horrible happened to her parents. There is a vicious drug war happening here right now. I actually tend to like Mudede's writing, but yeah, obviously not a parent.
13
Maybe the little girl just thought that the doll was pretty? My blond daughter's favorite doll when she was small was an African-American baby doll. She adored that doll and thought it was the most beautiful doll she had. She still has it, but it is stored away now.
I hope that the little girl is reunited with her family soon.
I hope that the little girl is reunited with her family soon.
15
Some of you silly commenters refuse to detach yourselves from the main story and follow Charles down the branch he took here. It's not his fault you're not finding him in the only place you care to look. Honestly, some of the worst readers in town come out to comment on Charles's work. And I say that as a bad reader myself.
17
Charles, you are reading racial issues into something that my not exist.
I'm a white male. While I don't play with dolls, I do play video games. Some games allow the player to select the race/color/ethnicity/gender of the main game character. I regularly play non-white characters, sometimes female, just for the hell of it, for variety, or just because it looks more interesting. It isn't always about racism.
Maybe she just likes the way the doll's hair sticks up.
I'm a white male. While I don't play with dolls, I do play video games. Some games allow the player to select the race/color/ethnicity/gender of the main game character. I regularly play non-white characters, sometimes female, just for the hell of it, for variety, or just because it looks more interesting. It isn't always about racism.
Maybe she just likes the way the doll's hair sticks up.
19
Sorry @15, you're wrong. When someone's initial "branch" is that insensitive, something is wrong. And you likely share it.
Sorry @15, you're wrong. When someone's initial "branch" is that insensitive, something is wrong. And you likely share it.
20
Hmmm. I see a terrified little girl clinging to what may be her only possession & friend. Heartbreaking, not racially provocative.
21
And for those of you who think all cops are just hard-hearted assholes, well, you're right. But if I'd been there, I still would have given her the biggest hug.
22
Hey I can talk like Charles, watch.
"Asian people are part of the same queue in affirmative action as white people so therefore this doll is really just an expression of the inner imbalance of the external appearance of people in our society.
Oh and urban/rural, and communist, and stuff..."
"Asian people are part of the same queue in affirmative action as white people so therefore this doll is really just an expression of the inner imbalance of the external appearance of people in our society.
Oh and urban/rural, and communist, and stuff..."
23
What do you want to do, Charles, take the doll away from her for insufficient racial sensitivity? THAT would help.
24
Sorry if I wasn't clear enough - what I notice in comments is people angry that Charles didn't preface his idle speculation with the sop "OMG this poor little girl, I'm heartsick and wish to shower her with kindness". That a reader might think it sane to get mad at a writer for refusing to observe a sentimental trope disturbs me as much as the girl's lostness and foundness.
28
I don't see anything racist here. Metro Vancouver has a very large Asian population, and they, too have some messed-up families. I hope there is a good outcome for this little girl.
29
So Asian children should only play with Asian dolls? Sure, because *that's* not racist by any means.
30
For people who think that Charles is being insensitive in this post, maybe you should take the time to check out the "black community" link, it will help you understand why Charles sees racial conditioning on a level with a child being lost and alone. The video brings the same kind of anguish as the picture of that sad little girl, both are tragic.
The girl is now home, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The girl is now home, according to the Vancouver Sun.
31
@17,
Let me guess, you're white. My sister thought the same thing and only bought her mixed race kids white dolls. Finally, one of her friends broke down and bought them a mixed race doll. Too late. My nieces think it's ugly and won't have anything to do with it.
Let me guess, you're white. My sister thought the same thing and only bought her mixed race kids white dolls. Finally, one of her friends broke down and bought them a mixed race doll. Too late. My nieces think it's ugly and won't have anything to do with it.
32
dude, you even don't know who gave her that doll. she could have found it on the ground. they could have given it to her at the police station. she could have stolen it herself from kaybee toys.
34
When I was a disgustingly wealthy child, I had the option of getting a doll with a prettier version of my features, skin and hair texture every time I went to the toy store. Everything about the experience was configured to help me believe that I was the center of the universe, and that people who complained about race issues in children's toys were simply "oversensitive". The fact that I didn't turn out like most of the commenters here is probably just down to luck.
36
@1: Yes, surely *childlessness* is what accounts for Charles' detached remarks in this situation, not because Charles is just going off on a tangent because that's his *schtick* and he can't do anything to help this girl anyway.
37
Wtf is every going on about? Yeah it's a sad story about a girl being lost/abandoned. But just because we noticed the girl has a blonde doll doesn't mean were callous and dead inside.
Get it through your think heads color consciousness IS NOT optional for everyone. and NO it is never just a doll.
Get it through your think heads color consciousness IS NOT optional for everyone. and NO it is never just a doll.
38
Charles,
Speaking of children, did you read this?:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/us/22b…
This woman is truly scary.
Speaking of children, did you read this?:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/us/22b…
This woman is truly scary.
39
yeah, what the fuck? what if your pashmina gets caught in the sprocket while you're riding a bike?
42
In a perfect world, kids would have dolls with purple, blue, red, and green skin. That way, everyone can feel ugly.
43
Dude the reason most Asians have done so well in America is not because they tried to be 'black' that's for sure. Look at Filipinos and Cambodians if you're not convinced.
47
I noticed the doll too. If a lost white girl was carrying a black doll I would have been like "that is really weird..." but my first though is still "poor lost girl"
No one ever gave my white daughter an with a black or Asian doll. So would who would give an Asian girl a white doll?
No one ever gave my white daughter an with a black or Asian doll. So would who would give an Asian girl a white doll?
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