Is this racism?

[mids]

What is it with Canadians and their otherfacing?

[happyhammerhead]

As long as the Cultural Identity Fraud Squad are on the case, I feel safe.

[moggyonspeed]

"Camra Award ban for Essex pub displaying golly dolls" : www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-65260945

I'm torn on this.

On the one hand, I can see how hanging these dolls in this pub can be offensive to some people, especially given that the landlord of said pub posted on Facebook (back in 2016) that “They used to hang them in Mississippi years ago". Moreover, both he and his wife plan to replace the confiscated dolls which, to my mind, is a brazen flouting of the Law and is asking for trouble.

On the other hand, I myself have a Robertson's Marmalade golliwog brooch of an astronaut, which I chose back in '83 to celebrate the flight of Guion Bluford Jr., who was/is the first African American to go into space. Does this make me a racist and, if I were to get rid of it, would that itself be my tacit assertion that African Americans shouldn't go into space? Genuine questions.

[flatandy]

Do you have it as a little keepsake, hidden away? Or do you put it on full display for everyone to see, advertising the fact that you see black people as this kind of racist charicature?

[moggyonspeed]

Ummm ... the first one (it's currently pinned to my DIY bush-hat) but if any member of either of my two BAME neighbour families were to object, then I'd more than likely remove it. As you rightly say, I'd then put it away as the keepsake it is and for what it means to me.

[mids]

It's potentially a crappy, racist thing to do but I don't think the polis should get involved. They probably took them away and raped them anyway.

[moggyonspeed]

Half agree. It is indeed a crappy, racist thing to do - even crappier and "racistier" if he replaces the dolls, at which point he can expect The Knock, and rightly so.

This is one of those laws where there need not be a direct victim, Plod merely relying, as they can, on the DPP citing the second breach as a flagrant breaking of the law. They need not wait for the usual suspects in the "I'm Offended On Behalf Of Someone Else Brigade" either in order to bring a case.

[mids]

So no one need be offended but you could still be prosecuted? Jee-zus! Authoritarian or what?

[ootlg]

We have two almost identical golly-type dolls, handmade by someone years ago, one white, one black. This is a true story by the way. We refound them among a load of old kids toys and things, and thought they'd look amusing as decoration side by side in a big old vase, both leaning out arms in the air, with grins on their faces. Anyway, one day a couple - heavily into human rights and all stuff woke - came to visit, and they immediately spotted the dollies. "What's that all about then?" asked the bloke. "What's what all about?" I replied. "The black doll," he said. "A bit much isn't it?" He took no notice or offence at the white golly. That's racism.

[flatandy]

No it's not.

[perrykneeham]

We're these dolls ever "hung" in the pub, or were they on a shelf or in display cases? I would be interested to learn who used that word.

It's an odd thing to do because a) who goes to a pub to look at dolls and b) the owner must, must, must have been aware that some people claim to find them offensive.

Confiscating dolls is very, very gay and creepy.

[ootlg]

Apr 13, 2023 13:48:09 GMT flatandy said:

No it's not.

Why not?

[flatandy]

Apr 13, 2023 13:51:52 GMT perrykneeham said:

Confiscating dolls is very, very gay and creepy.

Having dolls over the age of about 7 is gay and creepy.

[perrykneeham]

Chicks' thing. And gayers.

[flatandy]

Apr 13, 2023 13:53:09 GMT ootlg said:

Apr 13, 2023 13:48:09 GMT flatandy said:

No it's not.

Why not?

If it was anyone else asking that question, I'd assume they were trolling. But I genuinely believe that you haven't understood why golliwogs are racist. Once you work that out, you'll realise why white golliwogs aren't.

[mids]

Golliwogs aren't intrinsically racist. You could use them with racist intent.

[perrykneeham]

Yeah, hanging them, or pinned beneath the knee of a PC Plod doll would seem a little loaded.

[moggyonspeed]

So Action Man toys are for chicks and gays? And what about Latex Mandy then, with the lifelike hair, the inviting mouth, the pert breasts, the inviting thighs and vibrating nether regions? What's all that about?

[ootlg]

Apr 13, 2023 14:33:11 GMT flatandy said:

Apr 13, 2023 13:53:09 GMT ootlg said:

Why not?

If it was anyone else asking that question, I'd assume they were trolling. But I genuinely believe that you haven't understood why golliwogs are racist. Once you work that out, you'll realise why white golliwogs aren't.

If it was anyone else answering, I'd have expected a reasoned, non-partisan response as to why a black golly is offensive and a white golly not. It seems there's a type of citizen which trawls the world looking for trouble under the guise of being humanist and caring.

[voice]

Black gollywogs are based on an insulting racial stereotype, white ones aren't.

It's quite simple really.