N.C. adoptive sisters call for more diverse dolls
Like many 8-year-old girls, Patience and Jocelyn Dingle love to play with their Barbie dolls.
They read the books and watch all the movies, but recently the pair of adoptive sisters noticed something was not quite right.
"Patience will ask why no one looks like her," said her adoptive mother, Shannon.
"There weren't as many Barbie movies that have black characters as the main characters," said Patience, who is from Africa.
"It makes me feel mad because they don't make dolls like that," said Jocelyn.
The pair decided to write a letter to Mattel asking the toy maker for more diversity in its products.
"Will you make more movies with black people who are the main characters and more black people on your cover? Can you also make black people more dark, please?" said Jocelyn as she read the letter aloud.
The sisters said they wanted to write the letter for their other adopted siblings who make up their multi-racial family of eight.
"Even before we had a multi-ethnic family, diversity was important to us," said Shannon. "We had books and dolls and things that reflected the world and not just our family, and now that our family reflects the world a little bit, that's become even more important."
Mattel responded with a letter letting the family know they were aware of the issue and revealed a newly-released movie featuring two main characters: one black and one white.
The Dingles were also invited to take part in the unveiling of the newest, more diverse 2016 'American Girl' girl of the year doll on 'Good Morning America.'
Patience and Jocelyn will be among a group of about 10 girls who will participate in the segment Thursday morning.
It was a proud moment for Shannon who feels her daughters are already making a difference.
"I don't know that this is going to be the last time that they're taking the world by charge," she said.
