To think this product at The Range/Wilko is just plain racist?

[GardenNope]

I've been complaining about this range of products since I saw them in my local store a few weeks ago.

I keep getting fobbed off with no response, or 'we aim to provide products for all tastes'.

This just seems to me like a blatant racist stereotype of Polynesian culture. But the company doesn't seem to agree at all. Am I losing my mind here because it seems very blatantly wrong to me?

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/single-solar-tiki-water-sports-ornament-in-assorted-styles/p/8087004

Mr Ellis says the tradition of using black face paint derived from when poor farm workers in the 1400s would use soot to disguise themselves so they could beg - which was illegal at the time.

https://news.sky.com/story/morris-dancers-ditch-black-face-paint-and-swap-it-for-blue-following-racism-concerns-12292902

Just quick note - blacking up in context of border morris isn't blackface per se. It was originally done as a (fairly crap) disguise, so that the men could get a bit riotous and their bosses wouldn't recognise them. I'd argue it's cultural to places where border morris is still danced. YMMV. Ta.

So are the blue faced Morris dancers being racist towards smurfs now? 😂

Morris dancing and 'blacking up' is complicated. I wouldn't jump to say it was racist. It is certainly controversial but the history of the practise isn't clear:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface_and_Morris_dancing

I don't think it has much to so with poor quality and arguably slightly tasteless ornaments.

I thought the morris dancers black faces were imitating soot on their faces from the mines. Something about miners needing to beg (wages low) but staying all sooty as it was illegal to busk and they were less likely to be recognised.

I could be wrong!

The last time i saw some they had used blue instead to avoid upset.

oh god x posted with loads 😂

I don't see how it's different to a golly doll. So yes, racist and YANBU.

Wow, talk about a snobbish, prejudiced generalisation.

So a Tiki figure representing fictional gods is rascist because it's ...made out of wood? I don't know what sort of mind sees a Tiki mask and thinks gollywog.

I was expecting to say you were being OTT but my word, they're bad. They remind me of those awful 'gollies' that plagued us as kids.

I barely see a tiki mask in these figures. They are lounging on rubber rings and drinking.

I’m from a different culture and we like when there are products that represent us (obviously in a respectful way). It’s only people from other cultures that complain about it. Of course, like I said it needs to be respectful. I’m really not understanding this product so I’m not sure on this

Would a (crap) statue of Ganesh (Indian god) be racist as well?

Is it any god representation you find racist. Or simply Polynesian ones?

If you can't see the tiki mask..... Then why are you offended?! Bonkers

My god, which part of the country is this?! And in what context?

A Golly is the actual face of a black person exaggerated.

This is a Tiki figure wearing a MASK, it's not based on the actual face of a Polynesian person. It's part of an ancient tradition depicting Polynesian deities/scaring away evil spirits. It's not a representation of a person.

That's the difference.

The ignorance of Polynesian culture on here is more racist than the ornament.

You should go to Mexico and see some of the local made tat. Day of the deadhideous!

Golliwogs were invented by white people and were specifically intended to mock and caricature supposed features of black people’s faces which racists thought they had. You wouldn’t ever find a gollywog in a black person’s house. Tiki are not mockery or caricature, they are grotesque carvings, reminiscent of gargoyles, intended to frighten off evil spirits and unnerve the enemy in battle, made by Polynesian people themselves. Whilst you probably wouldn’t find a crap plastic model Tiki from Wilko in a Māori person’s house, you would very possibly find a traditionally made Tiki. That’s how it’s different.

This is inappropriate.

Awww OP, have you done your good deed of the day. By posting on social media about you outrage at social injustice. Have you not had enough likes and reposts on X on Facebook, to need to post on here.

Martin Luther King ain’t got nothing on you.

Firstly, I think the ornament is tacky and I wouldn’t want it in my garden because of the tackiness, but it is not racist.

Secondly, I was curious about your statement about ‘blacking up’ being common, and in particular your reference to Morris dancers. I had always thought that the Morris dancing tradition of blacking their faces was not related to race so I had a quick check online, and found that it is thought that it began as a way of disguising dancers in a time before most British people would be aware that there were other races in the world. However in recent years it has been seen as problematic as the world is a smaller place and it cannot be claimed that Morris dancers are unaware of the likelihood of being accused of offensive behaviour. As a result of this the organisations that run Morris dancing in the U.K. have banned black disguises some years ago and any Morris troupe which still does it is banned from the organisations. There is a news article about this here: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/03/morris-dancing-groups-ban-blackening-faces/

This information, which is easily found online, leads me to suspect that you might be making that up.

@backinthebox so easily found at least four other people beat you to it........

Why would you think 2 + 2 = 5?

I imagine she means dark Morris dancers which have roots in ancient pagan tradition.