Sofia is Sofia.

I guess I can't wrap my mind around the current public relations disaster facing Disney over its new show "Sofia the First" and the question of the main character's heritage.

"Sofia the First" is a television movie hoped to spawn a television series for the Disney Channel. Sofia is a princess in a fairytale land, Enchancia, the next in a long line of Disney princesses that have come far from the days of "Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White".

Now, in addition to your typical caucasian princesses (Belle, Ariel, Aurora, etc.), you have Mulan, Jasmine, Tiana.

And Sofia?

I'm not hispanic. I'm your run-of-the-mill WASP, but I thought myself intelligent enough to understand what the fiasco surrounding poor Sofia was.

Apparently, Sofia's mother, Miranda, is dark-skinned and hails from a country inspired by Spain. Miranda is clearly latina. Sofia is of admittedly mixed race, and is lighter of complexion than her mother.

A week ago, Disney said she was a latina too. That's when the backlash began, when the Hispanic community spoke out against the company for being too coy about Sofia's background, or complaining the princess was not Latina enough.

What was probably seen as a sure thing from a community relations standpoint suddenly became a crisis.

Disney's response? A week later, they say that Sofia isn't latina... or anything else. She's simply Sofia, a fairytale girl from a fairytale land.

In my opinion, this response was not at all appropriate. If Sofia's mother is clearly of Hispanic decent, then Sofia is too, even if she is of mixed race. Isn't that what makes America so special, its melting pot of races and cultures?

I think Disney should have played on this more. Instead of saying "well, she is but she isn't...", they should have explained that Sofia, like so many children in today's United States, is of more than one ethnic background.

Plus, there are plenty of white-skinned latinas out there. It isn't so far fetched a notion that Sofia would be at least half Hispanic and have light skin.

Disney's approach should have been different when they realized the outcry this was causing in the greater Hispanic community. Their response of "yes and no" was not at all proper crisis communications and in turn hurt their community relations. Unfortunately for them, the Hispanic community is a fast-growing one and this could hurt their sales numbers.

 I'm certain my daughter, Sofia, will watch this show, if only because the princess shares her name and it is spelled the same way. I don't care what the princess' race is, as long as I don't deem the show as a whole offensive.