Look at this ad from an old issue of TV Century 21. Does it offend you? Maybe I'm an 'innocent', but I don't remember ever thinking that Golliwogs were an example of racism when I was a kid, probably because the concept of racism was then unknown to me. Perhaps, in my subconscious, I assumed that Golliwogs were a separate strain of creation, like the Smurfs or the Wombles (though they hadn't yet appeared on UK TV), or I considered them as caricatures of black people in the same way that Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were caricatures of stone age 'white' men. Never really thought about it to be honest, but I certainly never found myself having any negative or hostile thoughts about black people because of Gollies.
Gollies were well-loved, being seen as 'cute' and adorable, and I doubt that there was anything about them that inculcated seeds of racism in the minds of their young owners. However, maybe you feel differently. If so, can you articulate why Gollies are seemingly not acceptable nowadays, or do you think that accusations of racism are levelled by those who are simply determined to take offence at every little thing in order to beat 'whitey' over the head with a stick and coerce us into apologetic mode? My own view is that anything that isn't intended to demean, criticise, ridicule, or oppress isn't racist, and I find myself continually surprised by what falls under the umbrella of racism these days.
Some Scots see the portrayal of a knock-kneed man wearing a kilt, tam o'shanter, and gnarled cane (think Harry Lauder) as a racist stereotype, but I'm not one of them. I think it's time people loosened up and stopped looking to take offence wherever they can find it. We used to be able to laugh at, as well as with, one another in this country, though having said that, I don't remember anyone ever laughing at a Golliwog - smiling maybe, but only because they were so loveable. What's wrong or racist about that?
Make your feelings known.
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Perhaps a case could be made for the ad being sexist though. 'Free for every boy'? Didn't girls collect Gollies as well? Maybe the fact that TV21 was considered primarily as a comic for boys might explain the seeming sexism?
