There I was standing in the American Girl Doll Store.... a new, shiny pink two-story fantasy world in the heart of Chicago's Miracle Mile.
And there I was explaining a topic I didn't really think I'd have to address on this "girls' getaway" with my seven-year-old daughter the day after Thanksgiving: The history of slavery in America.
You see my daughter wanted a doll. An African-American American Girl doll. And the only African-American doll in the historic dolls section of the store is a character named Addy Walker.
And Addy's story?
She, her mother, and little sister were trying to escape slavery in order to find Addy's father and brother who had already been sold off.
And Addy and her mother had to decide what to do with her baby sister, whose cries could lead to them being captured by the slave owners. I flipped through the "Addy" book that came with the doll. On one of the pages was an illustration of a whip. A whip.
Sorry, I grimaced.
I know slavery is an important and very painful part of the American story. But the whole thing was just a little bit more than I was ready to deal with on what was supposed to be a carefree afternoon in Chicago.
Can we have an African American/American Girl doll who maybe tells the tale of the Civil Rights era? Or maybe one who offers the story about African American's contribution to the Jazz era? Or something?
I just wasn't ready for the slavery discussion. So we chose another African American doll from the "Just Like Me" section of the store.
As a mother, I like to be a realist. But I believe there is a time to be frank, and a time to have fun. So I skipped over the Addy doll.
Because slavery is never a topic that I feel comfortable associating with my daughter's entertainment.
