Is racism acceptable in predominantly white areas then?

[beansprout]

Have just been to Lyme Regis for my holiday. Was utterly shocked to repeatedly see golliwogs for sale in toy shops and at craft fairs but the piece de resistance was surely being in a book shop and seeing a book called "The Little Black Sambo" for sale. This was a children's book, which somehow made it worse. I told the manager I was very offended by this but she was incredibly ignorant. She started off by saying "are you black?" (I'm not) so I explained that I don't have to be black to be offended by racism.

To cut a long story short she was adamant that the book was fine and I was the one being ignorant (?!). She was very defensive and absolutely refused to acknowledge what I was saying.

I was born and live in London. You just wouldn't see this stuff here but is it really normal in other areas? Am interested to know!!

[Enid]

dont gollywogs look like caricatures of black people though I thought that was the point

[starlover]

but you can get cariacatured dolls of white people.

what's wrong with a cariacature?

[madmarchhare]

even so enid, is that a bad thing?

[Enid]

it is predominantly white down here it is true.

dds school has approx 80 pupils and two are black, one is korean and thats it.

[Enid]

well its a bit 'empire' isnt it?

[beansprout]

HMof2 - we want to move out of London too but I am concerned about ds growing up in an area where this sort of thing is ok.

[starlover]

there were no black people in my primary or secondary school!

[HappyMumof2]

Message withdrawn

[Enid]

but it doesnt matter beansprout...because you can tell him it is not ok - thats what I do if i ever sniff any racism near dd1

[starlover]

but beansprout you are baswing your assumption that racism is rife in these areas because of ONE book you saw... and some dolls.

[Heathcliffscathy]

in terms of predominantly white countryside places, i have to agree www, but not just racism, everything is a bit more 50s in terms of social attitudes, so that includes good (people say hello, they know when people are away on holiday and keep an eye on things) and the bad (racism, sexism, all the ills in the world are down to asylum seekers etc).

having said that, there is all the sh8t in london too, but a lot of the opposite more enlightened attitudes to balance it out

[Enid]

yes thast fair sophable

[starlover]

i'd have to disagree with you there sophable!

my area is not like that at all. in either way! lol

[HappyMumof2]

Message withdrawn

[Ladymuck]

But "The Little Black Sambo" has made quite a comeback hasn't it? I thought that it was decided that to ban it these days was all too pc as the associations of "sambo" no longer existed?

It's on sale on Amazon, so Lyme Regis isn't the only offender.

[starlover]

i remember the first time i went to london my mum was so embarassed because i wouldn't stop staring at this black lady on a bus.

i had NEVER seen a black person before, and just couldn't stop looking at her.

not because i was racist... i was just curious! i was only about 7

[Ladymuck]

Here it is on Amazon

[starlover]

some reviews from amazon...

This book sticks in my mind from my childhood mainly because these days the title would never get past the politically correct cronies who spend their lives thinking they know better than everybody else.

Far from being racist or insulting in any way, it depicts Sambo's family as honest, hardworking and loyal. A truly inspirational book I'd say.



I loved to read as a child, and this book was one of my favorites. I never thought of little black Sambo as black. He was just a kid, like me. Funny thing is, I was a little white girl. I think it is the jaded adults of this world who can take such innocence and pervert it. The book is sweet and I think it should be read and reviewed by little children, black or white or any other color. His father worked, his mother was a good cook, they were both still together, and Sambo was very quick witted. What is wrong with that?

[NotQuiteCockney]

White dolls aren't caricatures of whiteness, they're caricatures of people, generally. Barbie doesn't have super-thin lips and a very highly arched nose - she's a characature of femininity, IYSWIM.

Robinsons only stopped using golliwog images in 2001! (And yeah, ok, there's Aunt Jemima back home, but she was never so much of a caricature, and has been improved to look even more just like a normal Black person.)

[starlover]

plus, golliwogs and the little black sambo were NOT named ina racist way... they were just acceptable terms used at the time

it is only more recently that this has become the case

[madmarchhare]

Happymum - Youre right, I suppose as a white person I am going to find this one hard to understand, like most things that dont affect you directly.

[NotQuiteCockney]

The way Black people are portrayed in Bo Selecta really alarms me. (Is it just Michael Jackson? If so, it's even weirder, because you can't come up with a Black person who looks less like the stereotypical caricature of a Black person!) And it's in the same vein as golliwogs, I think.

(I haven't watched a lot of Bo Selecta, so maybe I'm missing something?)

[beansprout]

I'm not saying racism is "rife" but this sort of thing is clearly tolerated. Shop keepers who want to stay in business will stock things that people want to buy and there is clearly enough of a market for golliwogs and "sambo" books for me to feel very uncomfortable.