To bin the old-fashioned racist doll? *title tweaked by MNHQ*

[MrsBonnie]

Please excuse the offensive term.

My daughter was gifted a very old doll from my husband’s great aunt. Said aunt is in her 80s now and said that the doll held special memories and she wanted DD to have it.

I don’t want to have the doll in the house, but don’t want to offend the aunt by saying we don’t want it. She does come round from time to time, so there’s a risk she’d enquire after it if she was round. WWYD?

Sorry Batshittery

@DeeCeeCherry

Racists clinging on to offensive dolls that they're too cowardly to display in their homes is laughable. Not even the courage of your own racist convictions. Convoluted bullshit stories as to why it's so necessary to keep the dolls you're scared to display.

Dense doesn't even cover it.

OP if you type 'Mumsnet Golliwog' into search engine you'll see the subject has been done to death in here. For your dilemma, if it's real that is - Your DD will know you're hiding the doll and why so it's not a good look either way is it? Just tell her whatever you choose, after all the end result is the same so why care?

IF it’s real? I want to do a laughing emoji there but not sure if my iPhone ones work 😂 If people make up posts on here that’s rather sad I did neglect to search the term before posting, noted! I don’t think it’s against the rules to post about a subject that’s been questioned before.

I am 40 born to british parents who immigrated as young children in the 50s. I grew up overseas, not knowing any context of a golly except it was my favourite character in a “lovely” children’s book. I thought he was like an inverse Raggedy Ann (using jet black fabric whereas Ann used stark white fabric) ...we were utterly mortified when we realised what he symbolised.

I am appalled, but neither I nor my parents recognised the implications, as they were young children when they left here, and had never been taught anything about it’s context. I’m so grateful I never owned one, as I would have loved it, in all innocence.

Would of course never tolerate one now! It’s sick to twist children’s minds with racist propaganda dressed up in cutesy merchandise. I have no idea where the book came (a gift?) from but I adored it 😢 I have always been hugely appalled by bigotry so was shocked when I found out!!

[quote hoodathunkit]David Pilgrim's account of why he started the museum left me in tears

www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/collect.htm[/quote]
Thank you for that link @hoodathunkit, it is indeed very moving and eye opening. Horrific stuff.

You are most welcome Oblio

You might find this video interesting

WARNING
Apologies, it's been a while since I last watched the above video
It contains photos of lynchings

@0blio

I've just read the Jim Crow link on why it was set up
No words

Thank you DeeCee

@Goosefoot

And just to be clear, I'm not saying that racism is over, I am saying those particular manifestations and images are irrelevant and often pretty alien to people who aren't at least middle aged now.

right, so I am 53, and so I think classified as middle aged by your description.

That is probably one third, or maybe more, of the population in the UK.

Your post makes it sound like - well, as it is only offensive to people who are middle aged and above, it doens't matter.

because hwo cares if someone of 53 is offended by racism, nah, you're old, so it doesn't matter.

Seriously, think about what you have written, so the image may be irrelevant and alien to anyone under 50. But what about all the people WHO ARE STILL HERE thank you very much, and over 50?

Until that whole generation has died, then they are CURRENT racist items, not in any way history.
I find it racist. Not as an illusion to the past, but now, in the present. This isn't historical racism, it still has a racist image now, today.

Your point may be valid in another 50 years from now, but until then, no, I disagree.

No. It would have to go.

'Offend' an octogenarian lady over a 'mere' doll? My blue hiney. It would offend me if anyone gave an item embodying such racist values to any child of mine. And there's no point claiming those connotations are invisible (they're not; they're completely blatant) or that this was someone's 'much loved' toy as a child. I don't doubt lots of lovely people had and loved these toys in bygone times, and that
ownership of said toys doesn't mean it follows that the owners are racist. But that's far aside from the material point. The items are, in themselves, racist. They wear minstrels' uniforms FGS, and minstrels caricatured slavery. There's a very good reason why 'blackface' is no longer deemed acceptable. And as for that hideous pejorative term with which their name ends ... just no.

YANBU to be concerned, OP, despite some of the apologism cluttering this thread.

My white nana had a few G dolls I’m not sure why I didn’t ask as a young child. She definitely meant no harm as she had 3 mixed race children of her own.

🙄

I’ve just seen these for sale on Facebook marketplace I’ve reported the listing so hopefully they’ll remove it.

The right thing to do LunchBoxPolice
There are always lots for sale on ebay. At least this one is giving them away.

Lunchbox police Many have tried but Facebook won't remove it. They were also put up in my local forum too and those who protested were banned from forum. That's how determined and insidious racists are.

To all the posters defending the ownership of GWs and insisting they're no racist. Examine your heart, and think.

The family I come from are really racist. They also absolutely insist they're not racist and get really offended at the very suggestion that they might be. My mum was delighted to find and bought my children a GW. They all genuinely believe themselves not to be racist even after saying the most unambiguously racist things. Do you think Nigel farage or Tommy Robinson think they're racist? Or do they just think they're right? Witnessing all this, I would never describe myself as 'not racist' because quite frankly, I probably am. You don't grow up swimming in this sea without being contaminated by the poison. This isn't my fault. What would be my fault and my choice would be if I choose to ignore this and not examine my own views and biases and actually listen to what people subjected to racism and live in its shadow, have to say. Lots of bame posters on this thread have said GW are racist memorabilia, why are you dismissing this?

No one should defend them. They are a doll. No one NEEDS a specific doll. The world will carry on without that particular piece of stuffed fabric.
And they contain the word w*g, I can’t even type it. People really really need to think of that word being casually thrown around.