Black Annie

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When we had just moved to the US I bought A. a black baby doll for her birthday. The white ones seemed uninteresting, having their eyes closed, while the black dolls looked sweet.
When A had unwrapped the package she immediately flung the poor baby into the corner of the room, because she smelled so chemical, we later found out.
However, when the smell had worn off, Annie became A’s favourite.
Jonathan, our Afro-American friend, was amazed, shocked in fact. How could a white girl have a black doll? But we, not having grown up in a racially conscious environment, we didn’t see why not.
Annie has remained A’s favourite, and Jon has since told the story as an example of cross-racial thinking.
We didn’t think it was such a big deal!