Christie, the First Black Barbie

In 1980, Mattel released Black Barbie, which is largely considered the first African-American Barbie, but there were two black Barbie dolls preceding it.

In 1967, Colored Francie was merely a Barbie with darker skin; Barbie's head was used unchanged, so Colored Francie lacked African-American features. The connotation, though politically-correct for the time, also offended the black community, so Colored Francie was quickly discontinued.

In 1968, Mattel released Christie, which experts consider the first black Barbie. Christie had coarser synthetic hair than Barbie, as well as facial features specific to African-Americans. Some historians credit this move as bold and empowering, as it was the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Christie was well-accepted, and continued to be popular up to the 1980 release of Black Barbie.

Mattel also released the first Latino Barbie, Teresa, in 1980.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011