Golliwogs

[john33]

Note the news that three people who dressed up as “Golliwogs” during Wick gala has gone viral. The world has gone crazy!! I am sure they never intended any racism what so ever. Just dressing up for a good night out. Type in Golliwog in Google images and many thousands of images are shown all off dolls which I am sure they were trying to represent.

At the moment ISIS are killing many thousands of people by throwing them of high buildings, drowning them in cages , mass execution etc etc as all the supposed great nations of this world stand back or make a very poor token effort to suppress it.

We need to get real and get after the hard issues not the soft ones.

[Alice in Blunderland]

This story even made it into the Telegraph. I am sure the few police left in Wick have more things to do than investigate this piece of nonsense.

[cptdodger]

My daughter mentioned it tonight, she lives in Hastings, East Sussex !

[crashbandicoot1979]

Utter nonsense. I don't believe for one second that any racism was intended. In the grand scheme of things this is a non-story and the fuss that's been made has undermined the entire gala and the hard work that the committee and volunteers put in. Those who felt the 'golliwogs' ruined the whole night for them, need to get a grip. If something so minor can ruin your night, then you've got a long, hard life ahead of you.

[davth]

Wether racism was intended or not is not the point here."Blacking up" IS RACIST.
Ignorance is no excuse

[crashbandicoot1979]

I absolutely fail to see how 'blacking up' or indeed 'whiting up' is racist. Racism is excluding particular ethnic groups, or picking on someone on the grounds of their skin colour/religion etc. These kids did neither, they dressed up as kid's toy. Admittedly misguided but the furore is completely unneccesary. Its not like they were lynching anyone. Its over-sensitivity like this that causes half the race issues in this country - it turns every tiny thing into a big fuss.

[Bogbrush]

Wether racism was intended or not is not the point here."Blacking up" IS RACIST.
Ignorance is no excuse

Really, m'Lud? I'd say intent is quite important and is very much part of the point, unless you subscribe to the burgeoning field of 'whiteness studies'.

[dandod]

Gotta say the article in the sun is an absolute disgrace. Says tney brought shame on the gala and then at the end asks if anyone who knows who they are to get in touch. They are kids for God sake let them be. I personally don't think it was done deliberate to offend I just think k they were naive. But it seems to be turning into a witch hunt. They are KIDS leave them alone.

[rogermellie]

i'd agree, nobody wants a lynching, and lets use the word ignorant instead of naive

[Citizen]

Golliwog can be used a racist slur, niavely these 3 have dressed up as racial slurs.

I have no doubt they weren't trying to cause any fuss because at the end of the day they dressed up as a Toy.

Have sympathy for the 3, I doubt they are feeling great right now with all this publicity but surely they can take a huge morale boost by seeing how the county/country is supporting them.

[rogermellie]

fellow ignoramuses (ignorami?) on the Org & Daily Mail doesn't mean the whole county/country is supporting them.

this whole debacle is being neatly foisted on the 'kids' that dressed up, but these 'kids' presumably have parents or adults who live with them and helped them get their outfits together - they're the ones who should be sticking their heads up and saying, 'oops, my bad, won't happen again'.

[nicnak]

There are murders, missing adults and children amonst other horrendous things going on in this world and all the police and papers can do is try to torment and terrify these people, as a child one of my favourite pass times was collecting gollywog stickers and badges, some folk need to take a step back and remember the good things and not turn them into negatives, I for one never made any racist connection and am sure there are many more like me, so carry on kids have a great time! ( and for those of you that might suggest any form of racialism in that there is none!)

[Mosser]

Noticed the Jackson Five blacked up, some Chinese, a red Indian, Oh gosh, next time someone puts on a Jimmy hat and wig and says "See you Jimmy" they must surely be reported and punished

[BetterTogether]

So a total of 15 news outlets have run the story all condemning the action of those who decided to black up for the gala.

Then we have the historic over the last twenty years of condemnation of the use of the term and why it's considered racially offensive.

But here we have the great and wise people of Caithness deciding that regardless of what opinions are nationwide they are the arbiters of what is and isn't racially acceptable.

I'd rather take note of the rest of the country than a few people who'd rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend things haven't changed since the 1970s.

Maybe you'll all be happy when the media starts quoting some of your comments in the press to show how racially intolerant and unaware you are.

It's not for white people in a predominantly white populace town to decide whether it's racially offensive or don't you see how bigoted your responses are.

[George Saint]

Only in Caithness ... would you find anybody dressing up as "Golliwogs" in this day and age.


Only in Caithness ... would you find people actually defending it.


It's 2015 not 1975.

[BetterTogether]

SNP MSP Humza Yousaf also weighed in. He said: “The practice of ‘blacking up’ has no place in 21st century Scotland."We all have a role in stamping out racism wherever it exists whether it’s intended or otherwise.”


Human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar said: “The fact anyone wouldn’t know instantly this is offensive is, sadly, pathetic.

“It’s not about being politically correct. Actions like this perpetuate backward racial stereotypes which are dressed up as ‘harmless fun’.
“Golliwog dolls were created to portray black people in a primitive, derogatory light and to dehumanise and caricature a whole people for the amusement of white people.”


Vicki Burns, of Show Racism the Red Card, said: “Blacking up is racist and the use of golliwogs is seen as an insult. Both should be avoided.We appreciate it is unlikely this group intended to offend but these practices mock black people.”

[davth]

But, but, but when I was young I had a golly*** and I am not racist, even the lads down the plantation thought it was fun.

[John Little]

Oh for heavens sake. I don't say much on here these days but this is so blatant I can't say nowt.

The Telegraph cropped the picture.

The lascie on the left had "Golden shred" written on her dress hem in big letters. Marmalade! Robertsons.
Scottish industry. Kids celebrating a Scottish industry..

Leave the kids alone - wanna have a go then have a go at Robertson's but even they discontinued. golly years ago.

Nothing to see here. Move along now.

[crashbandicoot1979]

I'm not going to be offended by a kid dressed as a Golly because an MP tells me I should be. I'll decide what offends me, and this doesn't. So that makes me pathetic? Good to know, thanks Aamer Anwar. I have never, in my life, ever associated a Golly with a black person or assumed its a parody of a black person. To me they're a toy. A character. For that reason, I'm no more offended by a Golly than by Spongebob Square Pants. Admittedly I would be offended by someone calling a black person those names, but that's because of the context behind it. Just my opinion. I grew up in a non-racist household where a Golly was simply a toy. End of. They're characters from a marmalade jar, not black people. That's how I see it.

There are far bigger race issues in the country right now than this. The fuss over it has solved nothing.

[Neil Howie]

I agree that what they did was racist and shouldn't have happened.

I am appalled at the public flogging and holier-than-thou attitudes of a lot of people out there.