What would you do?*work*

[stephie182]

Hi all
I work in a care home and a new resident with dementia has a golliw*g doll that they have on their bed every night.
we are a diverse workplace with many people from diverse ethical backgrounds.
a complaint has been made and this has been dismissed and that it’s not an issue.
Am I being unreasonable to think that this is actually an issue?
thanks

A Golly is a racist trope dressed in stripy trousers and a red jacket. Just because they “used to be popular” doesn’t make it ok - Dog Fighting used to be popular.. that wasn’t right either.

People are allowed to feel offended, without being referred to as a “snowflake”.. be used they are offensive.

The situation you are in is a difficult one .. though TBH, my mum is in the dementia wing of a care home, and stuff is constantly going missing - normally other residents taking stuff. With any luck it will go missing .. off to live with the Bernard Manning Albums, episodes of Love thy Neighbours, and Black & White Minstrel shows.

The thing is, white people don’t get to decide what Black people find offensive. If Black members of staff are offended by it, then it’s offensive, and they shouldn’t have to work with/for a person who — knowingly or otherwise — does something that offends them.

At the very least, white members of staff should deal with the resident’s care moving forward.

So you’re white, but you think the reason you’re not upset by a racist doll is because of your age?

If the patient has dementia and this is an important item to them I would I hope have the common sense to not be looking for an issue.

I see both sides. I’m 46 and remember gollies on marmalade jars. As an aside I never realised they were supposed to be black people until relatively recently when the campaign to ban them came about. However, once I did know, I could see the cruel caricature for myself and it is offensive.

On the other hand, people with dementia regress to childhood and this is probably a much-loved toy which brings them comfort and happiness. I tend to think that anything that can give them a sense of security and familiarity is a good thing.

On balance, I would put the needs of the dementia sufferer above the needs of the staff members who have the mental capacity to separate the actions of the resident/patient and an old-fashioned toy.

OK - I'll bite. Would posters still be telling the OP/snowflake to get over themselves of the patient were fond of and deeply comforted by her favourite swastika image (accompanied by some anti Semitic trope) on her bedside table?

My mum who is in her 80's had a golly doll as a child, its long gone, but she loved it, it was a common Childs toy.

Swastikas and Nazi memorabilia have never been toys, nor particularly widely available.

Never been toys or related to kindred childhood memories but in this instance, for a dementia patient, yes I’d be supportive of it staying put. OP should move on.

The fact a white, elderly person owns a golly doll does not mean they are racist, they were a common toy, sold in every department store, every toy shop.

A black member of staff in a care home would I hope understand this and ignore the dolls racist overtones, if they can't do this, frankly, they shouldn't be there.

If it was something brought in by another member of staff, different matter altogether.

Please be sensitive. My mum has one of these because her grandmother made it for her so it's special & sentimental. Of course it's tucked away & she wouldn't go out and buy one now! But it's special because her grandmother made it. So please bear that in mind.

Hardly in the same league is it ?
A gollywog is /was a toy ffs

She wasn’t always “elderly” … she would have known it was an offensive item pre-dementia. Mum is in her late 80s, in a similar home, and has been aware of racist gollys since the 1990s. The patient chose to keep a racist item in her possession. People in their 80s, were in their 50s in the 1990s… it’s not like that were growing up in the Edwardian Era.

Very different.
This resident has what was probably given to them as a doll.
Nazi propaganda has never been a play thing.

We would excuse a dementia patient saying terrible things. I think regulations would allow for the doll to remain.
I would ensure it remains in the resident's room.

Stereotypical racist tropes are ok, as long as they came from a relative … heard it all now.

Of course racism is not OK, but I think you need to put it in context.
A small child saying something regarded as racist would be excused as the child hasn't learnt.
The person with dementia will not know their doll is racist. They might have done, but we don't know the back story.

@ExtraOnions no, it's not OK. Which is why it's hidden away. We obviously don't have it on display as we might with another family treasure because the form of this item is unacceptable. However, each stitch was still done with love and care, not with any racism in mind (my great grandmother was anti racist even in her generation but back then they weren't seen as racist). Therefore we keep it as a memory of her, not as a racist item.

Personally I think it needs removing.

Would they permit other hateful possessions? Nazi items? KKK? Antisemitic ?

Where do you draw the line?

It is in a persona workplace and they have rights to be protected from any discrimination.

What if the discrimination was done verbally, as is not at all uncommon in people with dementia?

@BlueMum16 the possession isn't hateful though. A swastika represents a movement of genocide. Was never anything but a hateful symbol.

A gollywog was a common toy that had no racist intentions and when it became widespread knowledge that black people found it offensive, they were rightly abandoned. So the gollywog itself is not a hateful possession & doesn't represent hatred. It's insensitive because you know that black people might (not all!) find it offensive.

Very different.

When you say elderly, what age are we talking?

Does the resident have family that visit? if so can it be gleaned from them, directly / indirectly, if the patient is racist?

My dad has vascular dementia (75). So does my mil (80). No way in hell would I allow either to hold onto a racist teddy, it's so offensive and in the bloody bin it should go.

These comments that the resident has "got dementia so it's ok" no it's not ok. The amount of "snowflake" comments on this post stink of white privilege living under a rock.
Facts are, we're not in 1970 when people didn't know better. We ALL know these are derogatory symbols. Ppl should stop dismissing others experiences through minimising with this whole "snowflake" crap.

I wasn't born until 1980 and i distinctly remember the Robertsons toys that came with the marmalade,
So you're at least a decade out

Sure, Jan.

Shocked by how many people are saying this is ok and should be excused because someone with dememtia takes precedence. Golliwogs reflect and perpetuate a very racist stereotype and should not be acceptable. Full stop.

It doesn't matter if the doll owner is a fully signed up member of the KKK, she's entitled to have her possessions in her home. She's not inciting anyone to commit any hate crimes, she's a vulnerable patient with limited freedom and agency over her own life. The values of tolerance include tolerating people who hold objectionable abhorrent views. Incidentally we don't know if she does, and it should not make the least bit of difference to the care she receives.