When Dexter, a nine-year-old boy visited Disneyland, he was deeply unsettled – not by the adrenaline spiking rides, but the racial and gender stereotypes that he witnessed there. Disney, sadly has a long history of feeding our unconscious gender biases, but what startles us is the simplicity, astuteness and truth captured in this letter.
Upon returning to New York, Dexter shared his experience with his classmate Sybilla, who had a similar experience and together, both the third graders wrote an open letter to Disney, not just pointing to the race and gender bias they witnessed during their visit, but suggested viable solutions to make it more culturally sensitive.
Other than their mutual disappointment to serve as the base, there was no adult hand in the letter and the kids entirely conceived, edited and mailed it, at their own initiative to Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks, in June, 2015. They are still waiting for a reply!
Images via brainpickings
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