Golliwogs: not just innocent children's play things

Heres my letter to The Citizen today:

An anonymous writer passionately suggests there is nothing racist about Gollywogs that were first created in 1895 by Florence Upton (5/07/07). Surely to criticise these "black-faced, goggle-eyed" images is political correctness at its worst? This is just a doll?

Yet the Golliwog was created during a racist era: a caricature of American black faced minstrels - in effect, the caricature of a caricature which was a demeaning image of black people. Later Golliwogs often reflected negative beliefs about Blacks as thieves, miscreants and incompetents.

Enid Blyton's books are particularly insensitive: in 'Here Comes Noddy Again', a Golliwog asks the hero for help, then steals his car. In another 'The Three Golliwogs' the Gollywogs sing the 'Ten Little Nigger Boys': a childrens poem about the death of ten Black children one-by-one.

There is also little doubt that the words associated with Golliwog, like Golly, Wog, and Golliwog, itself, are often used as racial slurs. Finally, the interest in the Golliwog is found primarily amongst adults not children: some are nostalgic, others have financial interests.

To present them as just innocent children's play things is suppressing the real history.

Philip Booth

Photos above and left:

1. Upton's Golliwogg and friends in The Adventures of two Dutch Dolls And A Golliwogg, published in 1895. Most often shown in children's books, it was often described as "a horrid sight, the blackest gnome." This image from here.

2. Golliwog ceramic just like one I remember having as a child.

3. Robertson's jam who refused to remove image despite protests and then came out with a statement that there was no link between black people and Golliwogs.