Christie, the First Black Barbie

Christie

In 1980, Mattel released Black Barbie, which is largely considered the first African-American Barbie -- except that 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 self-proclaimed media "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