Edinburgh school mural featuring golliwog probed by police

[mistermack]

The politically correct brigade often bemoan the fact that people of other races are "invisible" in aspects of modern culture, such as children's story books and toys.

Here we have a doll that's proudly black, and with an afro to boot!

Not seeing any issue...

The name golliwog doesn't help, as the term wogs became used as an abusive name a good while ago.
Changing the name to golly, as Robertson's Jam did, was an attempt to sanitize it, but it didn't work.
I would personally like to see the doll get accepted again. Like in parts of the US, black people take back the word nigger from the racists. It's a traditional image, it shouldn't get hijacked by anyone.

In parts of the country, Morris Dancers black up, and dance in costumes quite like a golliwog. In fact, it's widely thought that all Morris dancers were originally blacked up, and dressed in what the locals thought was african garb.
The theory is that Morris dancers were originally called Moorish dancers. It goes back many hundreds of years.

I can imagine the politically correct brigade getting offended by that, pretty soon. It's probably already happened.
When it's a tradition that goes back years, people have to grow up, and treat it as such.

[charlou]

I think both can happen .. treat tradition as such (and I don't mean with respect, necessarily, but as an aspect of a culture that exists) , while talking about and acknowledging the social ethics of it.

Personally, I don't know why anyone would want to lampoon others based on aesthetic and other differences outside their control. Says more about those doing the lampooning, really.

[mistermack]

I doubt if the Morris costumes were ever a lampoon. It was just a way to dress up in something exotic on a festival day.
People in places like Cornwall, and most fishing towns, would have been familiar with ''moorish'' sailors, and what they wore.

If you are putting on some kind of a show, then for some reason, dressing up and wearing foreign-looking costume has always been popular. People dress up as animals and birds etc. as well.

In years to come, people might regard white rappers and hip-hop artists as lampooning the original blacks.

[JimC]

A lot depends on intent. Some use of the golliwog meme in the past has been with clearly racist and hurtful intent, but much of it was pretty innocent. Same with blackface etc...

[Audley Strange]

Blackface was never really innocent nor was drag, they were both used predominately by entertainers to ridicule using stereotype. I don't want to get all Spike Lee or Ape Lust about it, since at the time when they became popular they thought the bible was a good read.

[Mysturji]

It all becomes a rote reaction devoid of meaning or intent after a while. Anyone can claim victimhood over something. There are some folks born short and feel overlooked although it isn't something I've noticed myself.