This December, a Black mother picked out a KiwiCo crate for her 15-month old Black son. As a special educator and school administrator for over 15 years, she was delighted to find a developmentally appropriate crate focused on education, entitled “Feel with Me.” However, when her family opened the crate on Christmas morning, they found that none of the toys showed a Black or brown-skinned boy. Effectively, this potentially wonderful learning tool was rendered unusable, as there was no potential for the child to see himself reflected in the materials. The design and production of an “emotions” crate that omits positive images of Black and brown boys indicates a lack of research and awareness about the sociopolitical climate in the United States today.
While it is good that the crate did not include a Black boy showing “angry,” the mere absence of harmful stereotypes is not sufficient. In a world where Black boys and young men are systematically stereotyped as angry and dangerous, KiwiCo has an obligation to actively counter these messages in its crates. This is not just for the sake of Black and brown boys; this is for all children of all races and ethnicities. In a society in which Black and brown children can be murdered as a result of others’ dangerous misperceptions of them -- solely based on the color of their skin -- it is imperative that all children and adults learn and value people in new ways, starting from young ages. Clearly society’s current mindsets are not protecting our children.
When the parent above wrote to KiwiCo with her concerns, the company’s response to the parent was woefully lacking and seemed to be a boilerplate response that identified gender-based complaints, with the issue of race included as an apparent sidenote. Given the powerful protests against racial injustice seen just this past summer, it is shocking that KiwiCo’s “diversity efforts” and responses appear so out of touch with the changes that many are calling for and which are long overdue.
We know that KiwiCo is dedicated to supporting kids’ learning and enrichment. However, we are concerned that it is applying a lens to its work that participates in and perpetuates disparities. The team of “educators, makers, engineers, and rocket scientists” does not seem to include someone focused on anti-racism work. Despite a focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math), geography, chemistry, and more, there is no acknowledgement on the website of the historic underrepresentation of Black and brown people in those fields. Reviews on Glassdoor point to a general lack of diversity at the company, minimal management training, and favoritism. Given this, we encourage KiwiCo to evaluate its HR practices with a goal of improved recruitment, hiring, and retention of underrepresented minorities in STEAM. From a business standpoint, we believe that such actions would distinguish KiwiCo in the field. From an ethical standpoint, these are the right things to do.
Pedagogically, we believe that KiwiCo’s products and designs are highly effective and useful. It is with this belief that we urge KiwiCo to take an active anti-racist stance, committing to products that combat and dismantle harmful stereotypes, and instead provide positive counter-messaging. Marketing materials show children of many backgrounds; the crates themselves should as well: Existing crates should be revised in order to proactively show children of all races and ethnicities demonstrating a range of positive attributes, skills, and talents. This would be a meaningful step towards countering the harmful stereotypes that tell all of us that Black and Brown children should not aspire to excel in STEAM-related fields, that the full range of human emotions are not available to them, and that their innate potential -- unlike that of their White peers -- is limited to certain predefined roles.
Sincerely, the undersigned.
