This is an issue that I am passionate about because I am raising three girls, ages 11, 5 and 4. needless to say, I've purchased many dolls, and have received many dolls as gifts. I live in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia, and I shop at the Wyncote Walmart, where most of the customers, as well as employees are African- American. I find that each Christmas season, I have trouble finding African -American dolls on the shelves at this store. How is this possible in a store that is thriving from African American consumers I did speak with the store manager, who stated that is trying to correct this problem, which at the very least leads me to believe that he acknowledges that there is a problem. It is very easy to remove the subject of "dolls" from our list of things to focus on in our busy lifestyles, however, this subject is an important one, because the images our children see, which is inclusive of the things they play with, defintely have an affect on their self- identity. We all remember learning of the Clark Doll Experiment (1939), where most Black chldren thought that the white doll was nicer. The experiment was repeated in 2005 in an experiment conducted by Kiri Davis in a film caled a Girl like Me, where 71% of her sampled children felt that the white doll was 'the nice one'. Good Morning America repeated the experiment (2009), 47% of Black girls picked the white doll as "the pretty one"...Its time to start realizing that what our children play with, what they view on television, what we teach them, who they spend time with, are ALL factors that affect them. So , if you're thinking..."its just dolls"..think again...EVERYTHING our children come in contact with matters, I believe that dolls do play a roll in self perception....sign today!