Thursday, January 12, 2012

Does $1 really make a difference?

Last night I decided on a whim to take my oldest two on a trip to Target. I had a few things to return and also needed to pick a few things up. For Christmas each of the girls got a gift card to Target and while Zoelle had already used hers, Meridian had not, so we ended up in the toy aisles at Target.

I was letting the girls look to their hearts content while reminiscing about my own childhood, when I noticed a certain doll. Nothing was telling about this baby doll. Really it was just a doll with a pacifier and blanket. Marked for $10.99. I told Meridian that if she wanted she could buy it and I would pay the difference (the gift card was for $10).



And then my eyes noticed something sitting right next to this doll.

The same exact doll, except she was Caucasian and when my eyes wandered to the price I was astounded to see it listed at $11.99.



$1 more than the same doll that was African American.

My heart sank. As a mama to an African American daughter, I did not like the message that was being sent out to her, my other daughters, or anyone else.

I sent out a Tweet to Target when I got home that said:


This morning I woke up to a tweet from them asking me to contact them along with their contact info. When I saw that they wanted me to contact them I questioned whether or not $1 was worth it?

I mean, it's only a dollar. Not a big deal, right?

But then I thought what if $1 is a big deal to her?? What if it is a big deal to them?? Those who have been told their whole life that they aren't as important, aren't as needed, aren't as valuable compared to the white people.

And because I vowed to never stay silent and to always fight for my daughter, I called them.

*To read a follow up on this post and how you can make a difference, click HERE.*

13 comments:

  1. So, what did they have to say? And I agree... it was worth the phone call! <3

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  2. Annalise-

    Well, so far I haven't gotten anywhere with them. A lot of "blah, blah, blah". I actually need to call back with the exact item number of the dolls because the guy I talked to said that he can't tell me why unless I have that. He basically told me that they are similar items with the same features, yet they are different items so that is why. He stated it's not a black and white issue, but so far until they can prove me differently, I'm not agreeing with that. I will update my blog when I get a direct answer!!

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  6. What I don't get is: If it has nothing to do with race, why does the description of the African American doll have 'aa' after newborn and the Caucasian description just says 'newborn'?

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  7. Whoops! Sorry for the comment spam. My phone has, yet again, outsmarted me.

    But I had another thought: When I see Disney princess dolls listed on the shelves, I don't see different prices/descriptions for each separate doll. Would they not also fit the rep's categorizing of same item/different features?

    Just further drives home the point that this is not a simple pricing error. :(

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  8. Crunchy Chick-Ha! No worries about the phone! ;) I was wondering who would first notice that about the description! I noticed it right away. And I agree about the Disney doll pricing. In further talks with them Friday and finding out some more were found at various Targets, I agree, this is NOT a pricing error.

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  9. I checked my local Target today and they had the same prices. Add to that - they had a Hispanic baby for $10.99 as well. :(

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  10. Crunchy Chick-Where is your Target at?? You can email me privately if you would rather not say on here. jewelsntreasures (at) yahoo (dot) com I'm just trying to compile a list of the Targets that have varying prices.

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  11. hi vanessa, sorry I just saw this. my target is located in colorado springs, colorado. I was thrilled to read the update and am planning to check my target again today. :D

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  12. No problem!! Thanks for coming back and letting me know!! If you did check it out, feel free to let me know if they are not different!

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