For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
By chevvron
#1560307
I was watching an antiques programme on TV the other day and one of the 'experts' was buying a teddy bear. It was stated that most children were given either a teddy or a stuffed rabbit when they were toddlers.

I wasn't, I distinctly remember being given (horror of horrors) a GOLLIWOG!

Does this mark me down as racist? Has it affected my decisions over the past 68 years? Am I likely to go out and take part in racially motivated activites?

Please help me someone!
By Cessna57
#1560317
chevron,

I grew up in quite a rascist community, oddly there were a number of people of colour (if that's today's term), they survived by "knowing their place".

They were colloquially called, to their faces I might add, by derogatory terms derived from the word "golliwog".

The very fact you had a golliwog shows you're not rascist, you'd have been ridiculed by the other kids for having one, because of it's colour. You're parents would have been disgusted by it. It would have been used to show the black kids what you thought of black people.

So, I can see that it's offensive to some, and I can see why those who owned them don't understand how it's offensive.

I disagree with Leia, it's not the people who don't have a problem with golliwogs that you have to be concerned about, they're not rascist, it's the people that do.

Leavers didn't own Golliwogs, they'd not have had them in the house.
Last edited by Cessna57 on Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
By haggis
#1560321
never ever thought of myself as racist. Never had a golliwog but did have a golliwog bank. Can’t remember it ever having any money in it. Used collect the golliwog badges that you could get with Robertson’s jam. If I am racist I blame the BBC due to the manner in which it reports on what could be construed as “racist “issues. A policy of “don’t offended anyone “gets us nowhere. I suppose it all depends upon where you live.
By Gas Guzzler
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1560328
My wife has a Black doll, she's had it from childhood. She also has a White doll also for more years than I care to remember. Which one indicates if she has racist tendencies?
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By MercianMarcus
#1560333
I had a golliwog. For me, and I assume all young children, it was just a toy and had no racial connotations. I would have had no exposure to black people (rural midlands) and would not have associated the toy with a particular race.

I don't believe having a golliwog, or indeed suffering the Black & White Minstrels on TV, had any impact on my long-term beliefs. But I don't think that is the point. If black people are offended by the toy (or perhaps its name) then I'd be sensitive to that feeling.

MM
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#1560341
chevvron wrote:I wasn't, I distinctly remember being given (horror of horrors) a GOLLIWOG!

Does this mark me down as racist?

Please help me someone!


I was given a panda as a kid, and ended up marrying a Chinese girl. These careless and thoughtless acts of our parents can have long term repercussions.
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By AerBabe
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1560354
Gas Guzzler wrote:My wife has a Black doll, she's had it from childhood. She also has a White doll also for more years than I care to remember. Which one indicates if she has racist tendencies?


Similarly, my cousin specifically asked for a black doll when he was a toddler. A male black doll. My aunt really struggled to find one! I very much doubt that meant that he was/is racist.

Golliwogs to me are just a reminder of marmalade and jam at my grandad's house when we were kids. They're just a character.

Next thing, it will be racist to have a black or chocolate lab rather than a yellow one...
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By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1560359
When "people of colour" stop calling themselves "niggaz" but profess outrage when "Honkys" (or insert the local patois -term of choice) dare to use a similar term, then i might start taking their "sensitivities" seriously. That does not mean I would deliberately be offensive to said people.
Posted by a "cockney -git /barsteward/ wakner/ insert epithet of choice.....who has never heard Bow Bells ,nor seen the God-shop which contains them. OOPS ! may have just upset the Christians. :twisted:
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By leiafee
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1560378
Cessna57 wrote:
I disagree with Leia, it's not the people who don't have a problem with golliwogs that you have to be concerned about, they're not rascist, it's the people that do.

Leavers didn't own Golliwogs, they'd not have had them in the house.


Not my opinion - numbers from YouGov survey.

I think they're vile.
By chevvron
#1560392
Cessna57 wrote:Leavers didn't own Golliwogs, they'd not have had them in the house.

I'm a 'leaver' and I owned a golliwog.
Not only that but I had a full set of Robertsons Golly badges.
Shortly after I started at Farnborough, Robertson's bought a Navajo which did a daily run from Bristol to Gatwick. Registered G-OLLY, we all referred to it as 'Golly', including the pilot.
By Chris Martyr
#1560394
Childrens innocent stuffed toys do not trouble me one jot ! Whatever shade they happen to be.

Idiots like Tim Bale do though , he's the "Professor of Politics " who instigated this latest load of literary guff which Leia has linked us into.

Having recently just returned from the Middle East , I can tell you that we are probably one of the most tolerant and least racist countries in the world .
Whilst I realise that incidents have occurred where race hate has been cited , some of the blame here could just as easily been apportioned to the PC Brigade who had successfully prevented police officers from carrying out 'stop/search' activities as it tended to alienate young black kids .
Similarly , with the Asian porno gangs whose revolting activities were conveniently shielded by others more concerned with 'Human Rights'.
The shameful actions of the white trash in the Steven Lawrence case are probably overshadowed by the fact that they probably hate everybody , regardless of their origins.
Our country has been greatly enriched by the people who have shared their culture , their customs and their culinary skills with us,,,,[and walloped us at cricket].

So if I may make an impassioned plea to Professor Bale ; Next time you come down to my home county of Sussex and see something which offends your snowflake of a conscience.

Just try winding your academic neck in .
Kindest regards , Chris Martyr.
PS. I voted "IN" ,,,,,,,,, [Common Market 1971]
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