Golliwogs are to dollmaking, what pointy white hoods are to capemaking

Golliwogs aren't something many people of color are familiar with in this country, but they've been an overt disrespect in the form of a doll, to citizens of *Afrikan ancestry in England. The Golliwog is an anti-Afrikan caricature with exaggerated Afrikan features, and the bright red clown lips we've seen in American racist caricatures depicting people of Afrikan descent. They have their roots in England's depraved era of slavery, where they were given as mocking gifts to children.

The dolls have come to our scrutiny lately after Margaret Thatcher's daughter, Carol, used the term Golliwog to reference a male tennis player participating in the Australian Open tournament. She dismissed her comments as a joke, and has not lost her position as a result of her racial slur (perhaps the joke was like the one Tiger Woods' 'friend' used about him involving a noose?).

Needless to say, the Golliwog 'doll' needed to be banned long, long ago. Let's get that in effect now, so those with sluggish functioning in their neo-cortexes won't mistake them as justification for using, Golliwog, jokingly to describe a person of color.

This post statement at Sojourner's Place made me aware of the issue and the need to become vocal about it. I hope you will post about this issue as well in your dimensions:

"I am urging all Sojourners, if you are so inclined, to our collective voice be heard across the waters in protest and solidarity with our sisters and brothers. You can do so by writing a post about these controversial and racist creatures or by leaving a comment at anyone of the UK blogs and electronic venues discussing this issue. We know there is strength in numbers and change can come even when the status quo tries to stop it."


Please sign this petition (added in an update) to share your support:
http://www.petitiononline.com/golliwog/petition.html


Related note: It's amazing to me how much overt and even 'unconscious' racism expressed among liberals there actually is. Even shopping yesterday, a friend and I experienced 'the racial side-eye' and overt ridiculousness, which my friend, a businesswoman shopping for supplies, feverishly reported to the manager, who thankfully acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and sought to make amends.
It really placed things in perspective for me. I am very aware of the problem that is white supremacist-based which causes us to seek ways to heal the damage, while breaking the cycles of self-hate it has conditioned into communities of color, and
I dare say the 'vibes' are even worse now that a person of color has been "allowed" into the role of Commander-in-chief in America (...or perhaps there are those who will say I'm being sensitive? )

... Disturbing to say the least, but we can raise our voices and stand in solidarity, because ignorance is a sign of limited intelligence that reaches for the hope of feeling superior, when in reality ANYONE that is reasonably balanced couldn't be concerned in the least with feeling superior.

::exhausted sigh::


*The spelling 'Afrikan' is used in solidarity with the ideology of Pan-Afrikanism which acknowledges the scourge of colonization and white supremacist ideology that has waged both overt and covert war on people of color, with Afrikan roots, the world over.