Should This Landlord Remove His Gollies?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5384909/My-golliwogs-say-insists-pub-landlord.html

Or is there more to this story since he also dares to fly the Union Flag outside his pub?

One reader stated "I am sure he is a member of both UKIP and Britain First".

But then this reader identifies himself as a French PhD Scholar, from Paris, France, so who knows?

[anneasquith]

I'd guess the majority of abers will have no objection to the dolls being displayed in the pub!!

[ToraToraTora]

well I assume he is still in business so his punters ain't bothered. I'd say it's up to him.

[douglas9401]

Outrageous!
Not just in view but in FULL view.
You might even say he's flaunting them.

[Old_Geezer]

I reckon it's clearly a deliberate statement against intolerant control of PC supporters trying to ban things that are innocuous. Unless one can show any evidence of any hate crime the gollies should stay, and those objecting should learn not to force others to do what they want by making foolish claims.

[kvalidir]

I have less of a problem with the dolls themselves than with the fact that someone appears to be reviving the name 'Golliwog', when I've only heard them referred to as the far less offensive 'Golly' for the last while. Are they offensive? I'm not the person to ask since I am not black, but to me not really any more so than the vile little Leprachaun Dolls you get. I wouldn't want either but each to their own, and unless the Landlords are making a political / racist point I don't think their display is particularly harmful. Whether they are or not is obviously subjective.

[diddlydo]

Reading the Daily Mail can damage your health.

[andy-hughes]

The Gollywog debate always creates identical polarised views anywhere it is held - including on here.

I don't go in the pub, so it's not an issue on a personal level, but objectively, I think gollywogs are too contentious to display in somewhere like a pub, which by definition is a welcoming venue to all, and that includes people who are uncomfortable at the sight of them.

There will always be the 'fuss about nothing / relic from childhood / PC nonsense ...' but I think on balance that this landlord is making a stand which is not going to see him and his pub enhanced in the long run.

[kvalidir]

Possibly Andy but you can't make everyone comfortable. Most of the pubs around here have taxidermy in them of some sort or another because it's a country area and it's normalish here, my London Vegan friend absolutely couldn't bear to be in the same room as it, and has a massive problem that I taxidermy roadkill ( even though it's all been killed accidentally). Now if someone had a room in a pub displaying Swastikas and glorying in the Shoah I think there would be a point 9 unless it was deemed to be educational) but Gollies are not, or at least no longer negative representations of black people, it's time we realised they are just dolls and have no power unless we choose to allow them to.

[ToraToraTora]

a pound to a penny the complainer is a right on white liberal taking offence on behalf those they think might possibly be offended.

[vulcan42]

Having read the article I notice there was a black man drinking in the pub, so it obviously didn't bother him and he said it wasn't racist. Another case of taking offence on behalf of others.
I would however suggest to the owners that displaying them as hanged is not the best way.

[Barmaid]

I think this is quite a difficult one that has an impact both ways. On the one hand, it may well be perfectly innocent. On the other, he could be a fully card carrying racist homophobe who is attempting to be as offensive as possible whilst thinking he is being awfully clever about it.

Context is everything.

I am also constantly amazed at the number of people who say "I had a golly when I was younger and it was my favourite toy. Did no one have teddies? Am I disadvantaged because I never had one?"

[woofgang]

Looking at the gollies he has got, I suspect this is an attempt to get media coverage and custom for his pub...My view is that the display not racist per se but certainly a cynical attempt to use the controversy for his own ends. Personally I think he deserves to be ignored.

[ummmm]

I never had one either, BM.

[QuizmasterG]

Perhaps he could raffle the gollies for famine relief or to provide safe clean water for children worldwide.
Something that REALLY matters instead of all this pettifogging trivia drivel.

[woofgang]

kval, as you have said you are not black and therefore not the person to ask if they are offensive...I am not sure that they can always be said to be "just dolls" any more that swastikas can be said to be "just patterns" In either case the image comes with its history and as Barmaid has said, "context is all"
There are pubs round here with stuffed animals and also fox and deer hunting memorabilia. Again they do it for "local colour" and to encourage patronage. I am not vegan but I dislike it intensely and again I vote with my feet.

[anotheoldgit]

diddlydo

/// Reading the Daily Mail can damage your health. ///

Really?????????????

Why, are you having problems?