Golliwog doll sales shock
‘‘Everybody is on the same page about how wrong it is, and the history behind it.’’
Golden Bay’s Bee Fradis
The online sale of ‘‘demeaning’’ golliwog dolls in New Zealand at a time when Black Lives Matter protests grow around the world has sparked outrage.
Picton woman Cathy Dalzell makes and sells golliwog dolls on her personal Facebook page, and on the Nelson and Blenheim buy and sell pages.
Last year, Dalzell and another woman were banned from selling the dolls at the Picton market, after cruise passengers from Britain and the United States complained to the local council.
Golden Bay resident Bee Fradis was ‘‘shocked’’ to see the golliwogs for sale on Facebook on Sunday and contacted Stuff.
The golliwog sale post came on the same the day thousands of people had taken to the streets around the country for Black Lives Matter protests.
Riots have erupted in the United States over the death of George Floyd who died after being handcuffed and pleading for air as a white police officer knelt on his neck.
‘‘My experience growing up in New York City, you don’t even see that [golliwog] stuff, it doesn’t even exist online or in the public eye long enough,’’ Fradis said.
‘‘Everybody is on the same page about how wrong it is, and the history behind it.’’
It was ‘‘mind-boggling’’ that across the world, people being killed or persecuted because of their skin colour, ‘‘and here in New Zealand we are still on golliwogs’’, she said.
Fradis said acknowledging ‘‘white privilege’’ was oftentimes a ‘‘hard and confronting’’ process for people, and there may be sentimental or nostalgic feelings attached to the dolls.
‘‘But seeing our privilege is the first step in acknowledging that there are things that as white people –the black people, minority races, indigenous people – don’t have the luxury of not worrying about,’’ she said. ‘‘We have an obligation to step up and assist people of colour in any way they need.’’
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon said the dolls were ‘‘demeaning and hurtful’’ because they depicted images of oppression, slavery and racism.
Foon said it was ‘‘highly inappropriate’’ to continue selling golliwog dolls.
‘‘Ignorance breeds arrogance ... In today’s world, we are trying to eliminate racism in Aotearoa.’’
Dalzell declined to comment, saying she had received abuse last year after the previous article was published.
On the sale post for the golliwog dolls, most commenters were quick to support the dolls and deny any implication of racism.
‘‘Seeing those two lovely dolls brought a nice feeling to me,’’ one commenter wrote.
‘‘Seriously they are just dolls, is it racist to make a yellow one, or even green,’’ wrote another.
The golliwog is a black fictional character which first appeared in the 1895 children’s book, The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg, written by British author Florence Kate Upton.
The character, which has black skin, eyes rimmed in white, big red lips and frizzy hair, was described in the book as ‘‘a horrid sight, the blackest gnome’’. They later became popular children’s toys.
However, over the past few decades, the doll has increasingly been seen as a symbol of racism. Golliwog dolls and books depicting the character have been pulled from some shops around the country.
Last year, Trade Me added golliwog dolls to its website’s ‘‘banned and restricted’’ list, alongside Confederate flags and Nazi memorabilia.
Race relations professor at Massey University Paul Spoonley said he found it ‘‘surprising and very disappointing’’ that Kiwis still did not understand how offensive golliwogs were.
‘‘They have a very particular history that comes from a slavery-inspired racist literature that demeans Africans, including African-Americans,’’ he said.
They were associated with the ‘‘blackface’’ parodies and racist labels like ‘‘wog’’, he said.
‘‘It really is not an excuse to say that either you do not know this history or that somehow it is political correctness gone mad.’’