The Reader’s Shop writes Conservative activists are threatening a boycott of American Girl, the manufacturer of a popular line of dolls and books, unless the company quits contributing to an organization that supports abortion rights and acceptance of lesbians.
American Girl is donating proceeds from sales of a special “I Can” wristband to help support educational and empowerment programs of Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire girls to be “strong, smart and bold”. American Girl is defending its support of Girls Inc., saying, “We are profoundly disappointed that certain groups have chosen to misconstrue American Girl’s purely altruistic efforts and turn them into a broader political statement on issues that we, as a corporation, have no position,”
American Family Association, in a campaign launched Wednesday, is urging its members to demand that American Girl halt support for Girls Inc. The Pro-Life Action League, a Chicago-based anti-abortion group, is asking supporters to contact American Girl. The league’s executive director said her organization might call for a boycott of American Girl’s products and organize picketing at its stores in Chicago and New York if the company doesn’t sever ties with Girls Inc.
Mamie Eisenhower and every subsequent First Lady
Honorary chairs–every First Lady since 1946. I just checked to be sure. Girls Inc. did used to be known as the Girls Clubs of America. Their history is redoubtable. Looks like I may need another wristband (along with Libraries Matter and Never Surrender). I don’t think I’ll be weeding any American Girl titles on any other basis than circulation or condition soon.
thinking of themselves
According to the article conservatives have been very supportive of American Girl in the past (not that surprising). They are simply withdrawing that support because they feel American Girl has aligned itself with an organization with values that don’t jibe with what the conservatives originally found in the American Girl products. They certainly have a right to change their mind about who or what they will support.
Boycott of American Girl Doll
Also check out the discussion, Book burning will never be an answer for additional infomation I posted about groups trying to “protect” our children.
Although many of these groups sound like complete nuts–the group Concerned Women for America is very organized and, to the people who believe what they preach, sound very rational. They currently have launched an attack against the Girl Scouts of America, which encourages empowerment of young girs and instead support the group Heritage Girls. They are also targetting the American Girl doll and the CEO of the company because of a partnership to raise funds for Girls, Inc., which is pro-choice and teaches girls to be strong and think for themselves. They are against the Hate Crime Bill–because it protects homosexuals.
I encourage you to visit their website: http://www.cwfa.org to see for yourself how hateful–and powerful–this group is. Please do everything you can to expose and fight this group–and others like it. CWFA is a group that citizens do not laught at, but instead embrace as exposing the truth–to protect our children. They need to be stopped. We need to take action to protect our children, our libraries and our communites from hate groups like this.