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  • 2018-09-14 (xsd:date)
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  • Did NRATV Digitally Add Ku Klux Klan Hoods to Thomas the Tank Engine Characters? (en)
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  • In September 2018, NRATV (the National Rifle Association's television channel) caused controversy when they digitally added Ku Klux Klan hoods to trains from the long-running children's television program Thomas and Friends during a segment about gender and racial diversity. The segment in question was aired on 7 September 2018, during NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch's show Relentless. The episode is no longer available, though clips are included in the following video: Loesch was addressing a recent development on Thomas and Friends which saw two female characters (one of them from Africa) added to the show to bolster its international appeal and give more prominence to female characters: Here are the relevant excerpts from Loesch's monologue on the subject, along with the imagery shown on screen along the way: So the segment was structured as a joke: Loesch expressed outrage and bafflement about the introduction of female characters, including one from Kenya, then questioned whether the producers of Thomas and Friends were compensating for some previous racism on the show. The fake Ku Klux Klan image provided a punchline of sorts, with Loesch then theatrically accepting that there was, in fact, a need for greater diversity on the show. Loesch made some notable omissions and errors in her monologue. First, although she claimed that the show's producers were bringing gender balance to the show by adding girl trains, Thomas and Friends (and its spin-offs) have featured female characters (including trains) for many years. Some of those characters, including Gina and Frieda, were introduced in the 2016 film The Great Race, but others have been a part of the Thomas universe for much longer. Emily first appeared on the show in 2003, and Annie and Clarabelle (a pair of passenger coaches) were in the original 1946 book Thomas the Tank Engine and the subsequent television series. Second, Loesch failed to mention that the new initiative was part of a collaboration between the United Nations and Mattel, the toy company that own sthe Thomas the Tank Engine brand, to promote five of the U.N.'s 17 Sustainable Development Goals: In a press release, Mattel said that newest season of the show would see the characters travel beyond the fictional world of Sodor, to locations in China, India and Australia, and would see the introduction of several new (mostly female) characters from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and nationalities: In response to NRATV's Ku Klux Klan segment, Mattel issued a statement saying that We are not associated with images that promote hate and denounce any images of our brands that are being used to convey a message not in line with the values of the company. (en)
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