Tinkerbell is Black!

That's right, Tinkerbell is black!

We were watching the Disney Channel last night and at the commercial break, the Disney logo came up and to my great surprise, Tinkerbell-with black skin-fluttered by.

I was so shocked that I asked my daughter what color Tink's skin was. She looked at me like I had gone crazy and replied, "black."

In general, I don't love Disney's story lines-parents being killed, kids being abandoned, the lack of authentic ethnic role models (except maybe for Mulan-but my jury is still out on her, too) and other 'exciting' story lines.

So, for me to be singing Disney's praises is a bit unusual. But, do you think they are 'getting' it. Do you think that Disney execs and creative people have finally realized that the world is more multi-dimensional, culture and racial than ever?

Some people will bash them for 'pandering' to ethnic groups in order to increase their bottom line and stock price. So what. They should be able to reap the rewards of recognizing that the world is not black and white.

Of course, my days of Disney bashing and of rolling my eyes and sighing, 'don't get me started on Disney' are over. I applaud them for making what must have seemed like a risky move-after all Tinkerbell is not unrecognizable. The choice of Tinkerbell to carry the diversity flag for Disney says to me that they wanted the world to take notice.

Don't worry about me, though. There are still plenty of people out there-especially in the media and entertainment world-who still need to 'get it' and provide our kids with realistic cultural and ethnic role model-and not in isolation. They need to be stars, to take risks and model the behavior that will lead our kids to a successful future.

With Respect,
Deb