Toddler’s Response to Cashier About a Doll With a Different Skin Tone Is Perfect

Brandi Benner went to Target with her daughter Sophia to reward her with a doll after accomplishing a potty training milestone. Benner was expecting a fun experience with her daughter, but things went a little differently than she imagined.

Sophia picked out a doll with dark colored skin that was dressed as a doctor, probably due to her obsession with Doc McStuffins.  The mom and daughter headed to the cashier to pay out and that’s when things got awkward.

The white female cashier started asking Sophia a lot of weird questions, like if she was going to a birthday party. The mom and daughter stared back confused.

“She then pointed to the doll and asked Sophia if she picked her out for a friend. Sophia continued to stare blankly and I let the cashier know that she was a prize for Sophia being fully potty trained,” Benner said.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the cashier couldn’t just let it go.

“Are you sure this is the doll you want, honey?” she asked Sophia.

Sophia replied, “Yes, please!”

The cashier then said, “But she doesn’t look like you. We have lots of other dolls that look more like you.”

Benner rightfully became angry, but before she could reply, straight from the mouth of a babe came the most perfect reply.

Sophia responded, “Yes, she does. She’s a doctor like I’m a doctor. And I’m a pretty girl and she’s a pretty girl. See her pretty hair? And see her stethoscope?”

Such a perfect response finally got the cashier to drop the subject, however, this experience between mom and daughter with this woman perfectly illustrates that racism is not dead.

Benner told Babble that Sophia has always liked dark-skinned dolls and she never discouraged her daughter from that. “Whether it’s Barbies or G.I.Joes, our children’s toys should reflect the world around them,” Benner says.

This story has since gone viral on Facebook, and hopefully it will bring awareness to parents and individuals and show that diversity matters.

Benner ends her story on a beautiful note: “This experience just confirmed my belief that we aren’t born with the idea that color matters. Skin comes in different colors just like hair and eyes and every shade is beautiful.”