A viral toy marketed as a stress-relief doll has drawn condemnation from African American advocates, mental health professionals and historians after videos circulating on Chinese social media showed users stomping, stretching, slapping and even boiling a Black baby doll for entertainment.
The controversy centers on the so-called “Natasha” doll, a toy that resembles a dark-skinned child and has become a social media trend in China. Videos posted online show users physically abusing the doll while presenting the acts as comedy or a way to relieve stress.
For District-area psychiatrist Dr. Allan Cofield, the toy represents something far more troubling than an internet fad.
“The Black female, to go along with Malcolm X, has always been the most disrespected and unprotected person in the world and they have been a punching bag for white folks, obviously the Chinese, and unfortunately sometimes Black men,” Cofield told The Informer. “This doll carries that tradition and there’s no merchant who should be willing to carry this obscene and racist toy that satisfies the violent and hateful instincts of those who are seeking to buy such object.”
The controversy has also prompted questions about whether such a product could be sold in the United States. The Informer contacted District Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office to ask whether a toy marketed around the abuse of a Black child-like figure could be sold in the District and whether consumer protection or anti-discrimination laws might apply. As of publication, Schwalb’s office had not responded.
The backlash began after reporting by Hong Kong Free Press documented concerns raised by members of Hong Kong’s Black community and anti-racism advocates. According to the publication, videos showed users beating, stretching, stomping and boiling the dolls while sharing the footage online.
“The toy itself is dehumanizing. It’s almost making fun of a particular race,” anti-racism advocate Jeffrey Andrews told Hong Kong Free Press.
The images have resonated far beyond Hong Kong and mainland China because historians say they evoke a long and painful history of racist toys that once occupied store shelves throughout the United States and Europe.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, manufacturers mass-produced racist caricature dolls, including Golliwogs, Mammy dolls and pickaninny figures. Mainstream advertising, children’s books and popular entertainment often portrayed Black people as caricatures and encouraged ridicule of those depictions.
Today, institutions including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia and The Strong National Museum of Play preserve those artifacts to document how toys and games were used to reinforce racial stereotypes and notions of Black inferiority.
Researchers who study racialized dolls have argued that toys help shape perceptions of identity, status and belonging. Black doll makers and civil rights advocates spent decades challenging those portrayals by creating dolls that reflected Black children with dignity and humanity rather than distortion and mockery.
Mental health experts say the images associated with the Natasha doll can carry consequences that extend beyond social media.
“When Black children repeatedly see images that resemble them being beaten, mutilated, and discarded for entertainment, that becomes internalized,” said Dr. Elizabeth Dania, a psychiatric and adult nurse practitioner. “It does not just pass through them. It shapes how they see themselves and how they believe the world sees them.”
Critics of the toy contend that products built around the abuse of a Black child-like figure recycle ideas that generations of educators, civil rights advocates and Black families have worked to dismantle.
Catherine Lemieux, a Black Canadian transplant who lives in Southwest, Washington and works as a physician assistant, said she sees the effects of violence and learned behavior firsthand while treating patients in emergency rooms.
“When getting some history from the patient, we learn that their abuser is usually exposed to abuse including violent video games and toys,” Lemieux told The Informer. “This doll is an example of teaching even the young that abuse is ok and what’s worse is that it’s teaching that the abuse of Black girls and women is a great way to relieve stress. That’s exacerbated by the fact that this world has so much stress right now, so imagine the potential and possible effects.”
