Because I’ve always been uncomfortable with homogeneity, and I want my son to feel the same way. Even as young children, my sister and I would shift uncomfortably and point out when we were among only white people. For example, at age 10 as my sister scanned the crowd at a local church’s holiday craft fair, she announced, “It’s going to be a very white Christmas.”

When it comes time to open presents, I don’t want all my son’s Christmases to be white. I want him to have a variety of playthings that are fun and educational and sustainable. And I want people of color to be represented on and among these toys because as a Californian that’s the world he lives in.

The Multicultural Toybox also represents my commitment to human and civil rights. I grew up in a household that, while not explicitly antiracist, embraced progressive values. I remember asking my mother in first grade: “What’s a fag?” After ascertaining I had heard this word on the playground, she explained that “fag” is a derogatory term for gays, and that I shouldn’t use it. And I asked her about gays, and she said “It’s when a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman. And that’s okay.”

My interest in cultural differences, in whiteness, and in gender led me to pursue (and finish!) a Ph.D. in cultural studies. Much of what you read on this site is informed by the lessons I learned in graduate school, both in class and, much more informally, as the only white person in my cohort of students. I do not write The Multicultural Toybox to “represent” or to show, in the phrase of one of my classmates, that I am “down with the brown.” Rather, The Multicultural Toybox represents a genuine search for a better world that begins with children’s playthings.

Truth be told, I care as much about ethical toys as I do about multicultural toys. We can’t always afford to keep to the most stringent standards for ethical toys, and friends and family give my son mass-produced toys that are made of plastic (and, as we learned recently from the toy recalls, lead paint) and come only with white dolls and figurines. These days, it’s expensive to have a conscience. But I try anyway, and I invite you to join me on the journey.

If you have any questions or suggestions for improving the site, or if you just want to share with me a link to a relevant toy you’ve found or created, you can always direct them to me at leslie AT multiculturaltoybox DOT com.  If you own a toy store or market a line of toys or dolls, I’d be happy to discuss advertising options with you.

Many thanks for your readership.

Dear MomsRising Member,

Is it just me, or are you starting to get freaked out about all these toy recalls too? Just yesterday, I sat down for a peaceful breakfast (well, as peaceful as you can get with a Cheerio food fight going on), and on the front page of the New York Times there was an announcement of yet another massive recall of toys–and in the Business Section there was a story about lead in bibs for babies. What’s next?

This must stop! There are already over 15,000 signatures on our “No Toxics in Toys” petition from last week. Let’s double that number. The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) needs the tools and authority to ensure our children’s safety. We can provide Congress with the political capital they need to pass legislation that stops toxic toys.

SIGN THE PETITION & SEND IT TO 5 FRIENDS: Help us build a massive national movement that can’t be ignored. Sign the petition at: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=2362

*Once you’ve signed the petition, please forward this email to friends, family, your book group, coworkers, school and sports lists, and favorite Big Bird fan. Let’s make a strong statement together by getting as many signers as possible.

*Please forward this email to friends and family!

THE LOWDOWN: CPSC is an under-funded agency with an outdated regulatory authority. It needs the resources and authority to keep our children safe. It’s time to pass legislation to make sure CPSC can do its job to keep dangerous products out of our homes. Congress can take several steps to keep children safe:
1) Give real teeth and authority to CPSC to keep toxics out of toys and set firm toxic limits (since there are only guidelines now);
2) Create a third-party testing system and increase the fines for those companies who put toxics in toys;
3) Fully fund the CPSC, which has had a stagnant budget since 2005, so it can enforce the laws;
4) Increase staffing at CPSC since their current staffing is at its lowest level since the 1980s;
5) Give authority to quickly release safety warnings about imminent hazards without manufacture approval.

Two recently introduced bills in the Senate propose to do just this. Let’s make sure that Congress hears our strong support for this legislation. Our children need safe products NOW.

PASS IT ON–KEEP TOXICS AWAY FROM KIDS: Can you think of any list you have not yet posted this petition on? Any friends who have been sneaking into their children’s rooms late at night to confiscate that special Big Bird toy? Get them involved and pass the petition on so we can get as many signers as possible!

You can find the petition at http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=2362

Together, we can keep our kids safe from dangerous toxic products and focus on more important things, like protecting them from flying Cheerios.

Best –Donna, Katie, Joan, Mary, Kristin, and the MomsRising Team

P.S. GET THE LATEST RECALL NOTICES VIA EMAIL: CPSC has an easy and handy service that will email recall notices right to your inbox! Just go to their website – www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx – and simply provide them with your e-mail address.

P.P. S. For more information:
* Coverage in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/business/worldbusiness/15imports.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
* Bib Recall information: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/business/15lead.html
* CPSC Info on the Fisher-Price recall: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07257.html
* CBS News story on Fisher-Price recall: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/01/national/main3124623_page2.shtml
* Center for Disease Control web site about lead poisoning: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/faq/about.htm
* List of recalled children’s products: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/child.html

She is still there at midnight, when everyone in the village has long been asleep, but the workers are only just off shift, too tired even to grumble as they wait in line. Sometimes, the girl beside her says, ‘there is no water even to brush your teeth, and the toilet is horrible.’ The water (which, like lavatory paper, Li Mei is charged for) is cold. By 2am she is finally in her lower bunk bed, separated from the hard surface by a straw mat even thinner than the one she uses at home. Next morning she has no breakfast, for it is a meal she has to buy and prepare herself. At 7.30am, in factory uniform of blue blouse with a white collar over trousers with her ID card displayed (she would be fined two days’ wages if it was lost), she follows her guide through passages lined with cardboard boxes. The air in the spraying and colouring department is filled with paint dust and smells sourly of chemicals -acetone, ethylene, trichloride, benzene.

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