Golli in the window

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....hbour-black-wife.html

Is it being racist to display a legal toy in one's window?

[Bobbisox]

PC gone bonkers AOG, I had one and I loved it, don't hink it should have been displayed in the window though, for what purpose? unless it was in a childs bedroom, sorry I just read the headlines

[jno]

after a dispute with a neighbour the same colour as the toy? She sounds racist to me. Otherwise why didn't she put the toy there years ago?

[notasyoungasiwas]

Agree with Bobbi.

[joggerjayne]

LOL, LOL ...

The golli was described as 'threatening, abusive or insulting' by police.

As it can't speak, presumably it wasn't abusive or insulting.

Soooooo ... the golli must have been ... err, threatening ??

=0)

Was the granny going to throw it really hard at her neighbours ??

LOL

[Mamyalynne]

It was obviously placed there deliberately to provoke, whether any arrest etc should have ensued is a different question but proves how very petty some people are.

[Bobbisox]

still bloody daft imo, what a waste of police time and money not to mention the court costs

[joggerjayne]

The people of Suffolk are jolly lucky that they have enough Police resources to deal with this sort of thing.

Around here, if you get burgled, the Police don't have enough man power to do anything other than "take down the details".

[jno]

it was placed there as a racial insult (imo, but the court can decide), that's not a waste of police time.

[ichkeria]

Like so many DM stories, maybe not quite what it seems on the face (so to speak) of it
"FOLLOWING A DISPUTE (my capitals) between her family and parties at the address a toy had appeared in the window..."

I don't know the ins and outs of this. I'd consider it rather harsh to accuse someone of a race-hate crime for having a golly in the window. On the other hand it seems there was a bit of a feud anyway between these people. And perhaps the context is significant. Anyway, the article is so clearly slanted in one direction as to invite outrage from "middle Britain" that it is impossible to say exactly.

[MsEVP]

Well, having read the whole story it seems to me that the golliwog was purposefully placed in the window. I mean, it`s not usual to put a toy , especially this one, in the middle of the bare window like that so that it can be seen by anyone. The reason given for it being there was a very weak one.
PS I`ve got a golly in my photostream in flickr and no-one has ever taken taken offence by it.

[ummmm]

You are joking right? It was clearly placed there to offend her Jamaican neighbour. It was an act of racism....pure and simple.

[ummmm]

MsEVP - If you had a dispute with a black person and then put it on flickr for them to see, they might be offended.

[Mamyalynne]

You do not put cherished soft toys in a window, they fade and spoil - obviously deliberate and shows her up in my mind.

I have absolutely nothing against the said toy, I grew up with them.

[Sqad]

If it was the other way round and the Jamaican family put a white dolly in the window, could the white family complain of racism?

[rojash]

I don't see anything racist about owning or displaying a Golli.
But displaying a Golli in your window after getting into a dispute with a black neighbour? Yep, to me that sound like a deliberate racist slur.

So, JJ, if I offered you the finger, you wouldn't feel it was insulting, because my finger can't speak?

[joggerjayne]

The victim "was offended when she saw the doll from the road" ?

Looking at that view from the air, it's quite a distance from the road to the window.

The "victim" must have made quite a big effort to be offended !

Read more: http://www.dailymail....fe.html#ixzz1XBrhuWYN

[Postdog]

obviously deliberate. Again, nothing wrong with a golliwog but this was used to incite

[notasyoungasiwas]

'The "victim" must have made quite a big effort to be offended!' LOL JJ

[andy-hughes]

Is it being racist to display a legal toy on one's window - no.

is it being racist to do so against a background of a neighbours' dispute when one of the parties is black, then obviously - yes.

The majority of posters seem to take the view that this was a deliberately provokative action carried out with the full knowledge of both intent and perceived reaction by the individual concerned. It does contravene the race laws, and as such, the woman was arrested.

Sounds fair enough to me.