To Think Buying Your Unborn Baby A Golliwog

[NurseyWursey]

and posting the photo on facebook, is in bad taste?

It just seems a bit to me.

[WhosLookingAfterCourtney]

My fb friend did this recently.

Completely refused to accept that it was racist, and thateven if it was people shouldn't react to racism

Same as a cuddly Hitler doll imo.

[Dawndonnaagain]

Essiebee What is the point in taking one part of the history and ignoring the rest.
The story begins when the in a toy shop when Peg and Sara-Jane encounter "a horrid sight; The blackest gnome.
Then there's the link to the Jim Crow laws and Enid Blyton.

[mygrandchildrenrock]

It's obvious that some people are not reading the links that have been posted about why golliwogs are not okay in this day and age.

If anyone has and still lets their child play with one then that is very sad.
My oldest son is 38 and had one as a child, my youngest child is 13 and she certainly didn't.

[Essiebee]

Golliwog comes from Golliwogg, a character from 'The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg' illustrated by Florence Upton in the 19th century, and was a much loved children's toy in the 19th and 20th century. It also appeared in Enid Blyton stories and on Robinson's jam, the Robinson's Golly badge being much prized. It seems very sad if the belief held today is that it was designed specifically to mock black people, because it was a much loved and cherished toy.

[Treaclepot]

I would unfriend someone that uploaded a Golly on fb because it just screams ignorant twat, and why would I want to be friends with one of them?

[TriggersBroom]

Seeing everything that can be said has been said. I think tethers summed it up best a few pages ago.

[Wuxiapian]

I'm dumbfounded by some of the ignorance on this thread!

[Dawndonnaagain]

you're still fighting 1974's battles.
So the court case in December 2013 about a manager calling someone a golliwog was imaginary, was it?
That's December 2013. Four months ago

[fortyplus]

I was a child in the 60's. I had a golliwog, we sent off to Robertsons for golly badges, we joked that 'last one upstairs is a nig nog!'. None of it was meant as racist, but today most educated people would understand the unpleasantness. I can only say that many black people have made it clear that they are offended by gollies and all they stand for, so why would any normal, caring person want to buy one and upset other people?

[Meepers]

Lazyjaney are you unwilling to answer my question?

[bigTillyMint]

Well there's no surprise that Nigel Farage is gaining popularity given the views of some people on this thread

[FreudiansSlipper]

Noddy books now are not the same as Noddy books printed in 1974 i know I remember them

reading about history and we are more educated on other views of history is not celebrating the destruction of war and terrorism

[tethersend]

LazyJaney, are you suggesting that Mein Kampf is not fascist and Das Kapital is not Marxist?

Really?

[tethersend]

"The vast majority really don't give a shit anymore, this is yesteryears issue."

Well, black people don't get lynched any more, so I suppose that means racism's over.

Phew!

[Lazyjaney]

"If you do not care that is a choice but please do not plead ignorance it is 2014"

that's the thing, it's 2014 and you're still fighting 1974's battles. It's ok to read Noddy now, you can put Mein Kampf and Das Kapital on your bookshelf without being considered a Nazi or a Commie, Che Guevara is remembered for his Motorcycle diaries and you can buy your child a golliwog because they want one.

[FreudiansSlipper]

yanbu

i would think anyone that has a golly now and posts it on fb is wanting a reaction

we all know the history of them, choosing to ignore that is a choice to not care what they represent in today's society

if you do not care that is a choice but please do not plead ignorance it is 2014

[MyBodyIsAtemplate]

this is such an old mn chestnut.

I had one as a child in the 70s, everyone had them.

there was a jam advert in TV that stated 'look for the golly on the jar'.

no one thought anything of it and I never ever associated gollys with black people. btw I grew up in Handsworth Birminghsm so not a white area. my black/Asian friends had them too.

today you can buy gollies from our local garden centre and I have seen lots elsewhere too
personally I wouldn't buy one as I don't like them.

not really sure if they were actually made to offend.

times have changed and people are far more scared to be accused of offending and also eager to be offended.

I think to defriend a person over a toy is utterly ridiculous unless that person added offensive words to their status.

bit daft to post a child's toy anyway. never seen that actually. how boring.

[Meepers]

Lazyjaney

It's part of history. It may be "yesteryears" issue by your standards because of when it happened but you could argue that about a lot of historical debates.

This is clearly not yesteryears issue because it is still ongoing now, it is a vile representation of the racism that many suffered and still do. You may say that it is only offensive to people of certain age and political persuasion and I wonder if you would elaborate.

On countless threads in the past I have voiced my political opinions and my age so I wonder if I will tally in with your MASSIVE over generalisation. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say no.

[Dawndonnaagain]

The days of the golliwog being a symbol of arch racism that right-on people can use to show they are more-PC-than-thou are over, it's going back to being just a toy again.
So what happened to dd at school last year has no relevance?
Do go away and grow up with your 'right on pc crap', that is just trying to bully those with a valid opinion into backing down.

[Melonbreath]

I had a gollie and i loved him, I had no idea it had crude representation history. To me he was just a doll and lived with the other rag dolls.
my 15 month old dd has a gollie too and calls him a teddy and loves him.

I also drive a beetle but that doesn't make me a nazi.

[Lazyjaney]

"... if they continue to insist that the golliwog is not racist, the they will be thought of as racist by a great many people"

By a small and declining number of people, of a certain age and political persuasion, more like.

The vast majority really don't give a shit anymore, this is yesteryears issue.

[PartyPoison]

I have to admit if I saw someone displaying a golliwog then I would think they are probably racist, I suppose at the very best that they were ignorant. I'm not sure how someone can't know about their history.

I feel the same about the N word. It may be being reclaimed by some youths who are black but it's not something that I think is acceptable. My husband had some problems in his department with a black man from Jamaica using monkey as his insult of choice to the black men from Africa. What hope is there for humanity when this insult is used between black men just because of their birth country?

People need to look at history and learn from it. Rascism and xenophobia has no place in any society and that includes things that started off with repulsive origins. A golliwog is not just a doll, I see it as a symbol of repression and hatred.

[Meepers]

I'm actually shocked this thread is still going with so many failing to accept what is fact.

I cannot believe those saying "it's just a doll". Do you even know what this doll represents?

I agree with those saying owning a doll doesn't make you racist. It doesn't. It would however make you hugely ignorant if you don't understand that they are racist and if you do understand and don't care then that is what makes you a racist. Not the doll per se.

I'm not surprised a lot of the people who own them say they've been put away whilst claiming there is nothing wrong with them. I'm going to presume it's because you know what they are and what they represent. If you're ashamed to display them you shouldn't be here defending the use of them.

[tethersend]

Aurryne, that's all well and good- but would you, or anyone else, try and argue that Mein Kampf is not racist?

The golliwog is racist.

History here

Owners of golliwog a may not be- they may simply be naive of its origins and semiotics- but if they continue to insist that the golliwog is not racist, the they will be thought of as racist by a great many people.

[daisychain01]

aurynne

Snort away to your hearts content