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There has been a tremendous amount of controversy over 'The Princess and the Frog,' Disney's first animated feature to star a black princess in its 70-year history of princess-making. From her name (changed from Maddy to Tiana), to her racially-ambiguous prince, it seems that no one is satisfied.The Root is adding a totally new nuance to this heap of discontent. , asks the poignant question: Who needs a black princess anyway? She questions the value of "princess" ideals, preferring to give young women a dose of reality to counteract this fantasy.
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Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush
Stars in their own right, these two have risen to tabloid stardom with their very public relationship. While he is a football phenom, she is a gorgeous socialite made famous by a reality show and a racy sex tape.
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Seal and Heidi Klum
One of today's most striking 'it' couples, these two first met when Heidi was pregnant with ex-husband Flavio Briatore's child. They were married a year later and now have two gorgeous sons together.
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Ice T and Coco
Rapper turned actor Ice T married voluptuous swimsuit model Nicole Austin, known professionally as Coco. The 'Law & Order: SVU' regular and his wife speak often of the secret of their seven year marriage -- great sex!
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DJ Ironik and Danielle Lloyd
Former Miss Great Britain and reality TV star is the on-again-off fiance of MOBO nominated rapper. In October, they were off again -- or it could be a publicity stunt?
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Cuba Gooding has been married to Sara Kapfer since 1994, but the two were high school sweethearts since 1986. The Goodings have three children: Spencer, Mason and Piper.
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Thandie Newton and Ol Parker
Bi-racial British actress Thandie Newton married her writer/director/producer husband in 1998. The pair have two daughters, Ripley and Nico.
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Iman and David Bowie
Somalian supermodel Iman and rock luminary David Bowie have been married 19 years and have one daughter, Alexandria Zahra -- they make an amazing power couple.
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Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren
These two were introduced in 2001 and by 2004 were getting married at an exclusive golf resort in Barbados. The two have two children, Sam Alexis and Charlie Axel.
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Emma Bunton and Jade Jones
Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) has been with her partner, singer Jade Jones, for nearly a decade. The two have a son, Beau Lee Bunton, born in August 2007 and say they have no plans to marry.
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does acknowledge that a gorgeous black icon can help blossoming women of all races better appreciate African American beauty. But Fields seems to miss the fact that enjoying a fun childhood builds inner security, allowing one to courageously face adult responsibilities. The beautiful feelings created by fantasies also build tenderness of heart, so one can retain humanity while dealing with life's cruelties.
The Web site's author is too focused on impressing kids in mental infancy with the harsh nature of reality before they are ready. I can understand her not wanting girls to believe the "princess" way is an adult mentality, but why take away the sacred joy of childhood when you are actually a child?
There is much value in a black princess, even one as incredibly controversial as Princess Tiana is proving to be.
More on 'The Princess and The Frog'
+Disney's First Black Princess... Has a Prince Who's Not Black
+'The Princess and the Frog' Poster and Trailer Now Online
+Anika Noni Rose Talks About 'Princess and the Frog' Doll
Comments: (1766)
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By: AMbBErRRrr on 7/01/2009 5:38PM
Black , White . Were all humans and one day we will all need one another . Take the time to love and cherish people , for your life may be short . If im only 15 and can understand this then im sure the adults should come to their senses . Life isnt always about color see through that and you may just begin to love your neighboor .
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By: Christine on 7/13/2009 1:32AM
I think it would be nice to see a black princess in Disney cartoons. We live in a world where there is diversity. I get tired of seeing just Caucasian faces in Disney cartoons. There are beautiful people of all nationalites. I also believe it will teach young black girls to carry themselves as a lady. Too many black girls want to carry themselves like little whores because they watch video vixens popping their behinds in the music videos.
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By: C.Harris on 7/04/2009 12:14PM
I think it will be nice for my four girls to see a black princess. The closest they had to an ethnic princess was jasmine from Aladdin. My oldest is a twelve year old girl and she asked about 7 years ago after looking at the Little Mermaid why weren't there any black princesses. It doesn't give them an unrealistic view its animation it feeds their imaginations
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By: It Does Matter on 7/05/2009 10:01PM
Every little girl wants to be a Princess but there are no images that our girls can associate with. Black girls need to see themselves as beautiful princesses as well. My little neices love princesses but I am disappointed everytime that I buy her things with several princesses on it, none of which looks like her. She has said things in the past which shows that she thinks white dolls are prettier than black dolls and white women are prettier. This is a common theme that society teaches are children. The television show 20/20 or one of those shows did a special on this and found that several black children veiwed themselves as ugly and "bad". I think that surrounding our children with beautiful and most importantly positive black images will help increase their esteem and self worth.
By the way, the creators of the Kenya doll at Wal-Mart should be ashamed of themselves. Those dolls are not very attractive. They have really long foreheads, terrible hairstyles, and terrible check and mouth colors that do not go with their complexion. Ugly black images have been used in the past to create fear, disgust, and hatred for blacks. Dolls like this doesn't help.
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By: Rosa on 8/13/2009 12:24AM
cojib are u nuts??? what makes u make give such misguided info. How is it that Africa was full of people before the whites were on the planet. God created from one man and one woman all the races on earth. He did not create just a black couple. Do tell, where did the other races come from if none existed only the black. Are u and adult or a child?
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By: Rosa on 8/13/2009 12:10AM
Stuck_IN_slowMO, all I am saying that there is discrimination against all races everywhere till this day. It's just that the blacks take advantage of it as much as they can and many have a chip on their shoulder as if the world owes them for what the Anglos did to them in the past. We should never forget that ugly part of our history when it concerns black people, but we need to remember that about all races. So many injustices has been done but the Anglos. Do u know the story of the Trail of tears? Thousands upon thousands of indians died as the "white" military took them away from their homes to live in reservations across the country in pure winter, many people have been wronged in the past and it continues till this day...it is still opening. Black people don't have the high card in being the only persecuted ones. What about women in other countries, even here in the USA, we still haven't had a female president, and women still earn less then men do in their counter part jobs. This is not about being black anymore and it never was, we have all been discriminated against. The black folks are just very much more vocal and like I said, they love using the racist card while other races go about it a different way.
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