I personally think Golliwogs have run their course, there's no real place for them now in a society that should be more multicultural and tolerant, or we face the possibility of civil war!
The word Golliwog has been used to put black people down for years, even back when the Black and White Minstrel show was going, blacked-up men playing stereotypical black people, the word was used in an offensive manner.
I do however Carol Thatcher used the word in an offensive manner, what was the need for her to describe anyone as a "Golliwog",............ did she think that we wouldn't know the tennis player was black?
Your analogy about comparing people to childrens toys is not neccessarily a good one though Mighty, she didn't describe the person as a fit looking black doll, she described them as a Golliwog, she also said that she was "joking" when she said it, ie poking fun at, ie she wasn't being complementary. She was putting the person down.
As for the "there's wars going on",........ its people with these views, eg that calling someone a Golliwog is ok, that has led to the intolerance and distrust that has led to the wars in the first place.
On another note, if she had just said "Wog" a shortened version of "Golliwog", would that still have been ok?
Gonna have to agree to disagree on this one!
Dont like the Golliwog toys, never have.
Excerpt from link below:
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The claim that Golliwogs are racist is supported by literary depictions by writers such as Enid Blyton. Unlike Florence Upton's, Blyton's Golliwogs were often rude, mischievous, elfin villains. In Blyton's book, Here Comes Noddy Again, a Golliwog asks the hero for help, then steals his car.
Blyton, one of the most prolific European writers, included the Golliwogs in many stories, but she only wrote three books primarily about Golliwogs: The Three Golliwogs (1944), The Proud Golliwog (1951), and The Golliwog Grumbled (1953). Her depictions of Golliwogs are, by contemporary standards, racially insensitive. An excerpt from The Three Golliwogs is illustrative:
Once the three bold golliwogs, Golly, Woggie, and Nigger, decided to go for a walk to Bumble-Bee Common. Golly wasn't quite ready so Woggie and Nigger said they would start off without him, and Golly would catch them up as soon as he could. So off went Woogie and Nigger, arm-in-arm, singing merrily their favourite song -- which, as you may guess, was Ten Little Nigger Boys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwogghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_ ... strel_Showhttp://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/