Red and Yellow, Black and White...

The other day we were wasting some time at the store while waiting for the photo lab to finish our order, we found ourselves in the toy section. Who am I kidding though, we find ourselves in the toy aisles frequently :) As we were going up and down the aisles Norah started pointing very excitedly at something. At first I wasn't sure what it was that got her so excited but then my eyes made their way to a baby doll and I knew that was what she was wanting to see. She has a love for baby dolls, especially now that she has a baby brother.She loves to mimic me with her baby doll. She changes her, she burps her, she has even been known to nurse her after seeing me nurse Wes. She enjoys playing the mommy roll.
I handed her the baby doll that she was so excited to get her hands on. 

It was the first time it even crossed my mind to consider getting her a baby doll of another race. I have zero problems with a white child having a black baby doll or vice versa, it simply had just never crossed my mind. I naturally had just only bought her white baby dolls. 
What a great way to broaden her diversity though right? I mean we live in an area that according to the 2010 census is 99.1% white (which is down from 100% white according to the 2000 census). Needless to say, she doesn't have very many opportunities to be around people of another race. I dislike that quite a bit. I grew up very differently. 
I grew up an army brat living on a military base in Virginia (Fort Eustis to be exact - I also lived at Fort Campbell in TN as well) and I was certainly not in the majority there, and yet I never once thought anything of it. Until my dad retired when I was 8 and we moved to the midwest. Then I was a bit taken back that I looked like everyone else, oh and what is this thing they call sales tax?!
I'm glad she picked out that black baby doll the other day. It was a good reminder to me that she currently does not see color as an issue and I want it to always stay that way. I don't want her to be color blind, because we AREN'T all the same and it is okay to acknowledge that. Instead I want her to appreciate our differences and to appreciate the face that we are all unique and the color of our skin plays into that. I simply want it to be a non-issue for her, which I hope is not hindered by the lack of diversity in our location. 
Do you live in a diverse area? If not how do you teach racial diversity, or do you? 

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