carol thatcher calls a tennis player a golliwog

[severnside gull]

I have a golliwog on the parcel shelf of my car. It was a present from one of my grandchildren.

I remove it when I park in Birmingham

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I have two Golliwogs in the loft of my folks'. One things that does confuse me with issues such as this is we hear how everyone else is offended apart from the subject in question.

 

[dougdeep]

I had a golliwog as a kid, and it didn't make me a racist.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

There was a case recently of a man being sacked for referring to the chap (a black man) he was emailing as '******'. Disgraceful you might say, but the man who had his employment terminated was also black.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Gosh, that Carol Thatcher PR machine is very slippery:

Tactic 1: Make light of the racist remark by dismissing it as a joke.

When that didn't work.....

Tactic 2: Make an apology even though she didn't know why she should apologise

When that didn't work.....

Tactic 3: Claim there's a production team member witch hunt to get her, and trying to reframe the debate so it's about the leaking of a 'private' conversation.

When that didn't work....

Tactic 4: Try to remove the moral high ground of fellow presenters by saying they were fine with what she said, and only objected later.

 

[NMH]

There was a case recently of a man being sacked for referring to the chap (a black man) he was emailing as '******'. Disgraceful you might say, but the man who had his employment terminated was also black.

An unusual one there, but... the racist comment is still the same racist comment regardless. A black person shouting such names at a black player would get just as thrown-out at Withdean as a white racist would. The term is racism, whoever is hurling it.

So yes, disgraceful I might indeed say, and I'd still be correct in the assessment.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

In his email, if he had spelt the word as 'nigga' rather than the other spelling and was using it to express commonality with his colleague, then a good case can be made that he wasn't being racist. As for whether 'nigga' is an appropriate term to address someone at work, that's another matter...

 

[kalinski]

Can we all just stop using that offensive word. It has been said so many times today on the radio and the television and i am just fed up with it. It has caused so much hurt and pain over the years and i just think we should take a breath and not utter it any more...







If we all just say carol we will all know who we are talking about with having to mention the T word as well

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I've not trawled the whole thread so forgive me if mentioned before.

The jam makers, Robertsons, had a golly as their symbol and a range of items as well. I know my sister collected the little metal badges showing the golly in varios guises, including footballer.

Given that these were 'collectables' and most things finish up on ebay, would there be a problem if somebody advertised these for sale?

 

[clapham_gull]

I've not trawled the whole thread so forgive me if mentioned before.

The jam makers, Robertsons, had a golly as their symbol and a range of items as well. I know my sister collected the little metal badges showing the golly in varios guises, including footballer.

Given that these were 'collectables' and most things finish up on ebay, would there be a problem if somebody advertised these for sale?

Problem with this thread is that it has confused the question whether a golliwog is intrinsically offensive or referring to a black person as one in 2009 is.

The latter obviously - because the last three letters of the word are 100% a term of racial abuse.

The first one, well the jury is out to a certain extent. I don't think the like of Robertsons should really be using it as logo any more, but then again I'll never be convinced that someone owning one has necessary an outdated view of black people.

The greater problem in the name of thing rather than the thing itself. You can't get away from the fact that the word became a term of abuse.

I do also suspect that some defenders of things like "gollywogs" or use of the word "paki-shop" are simply hiding their racism behind words that they think are "border line" acceptable.

They've found a loop hole in the political correctness if you like.

To answer your question - Robertsons collectables are wildly available to buy and advertised.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

I don't mind ginges. F*cking hate Aussies, mind you.

Well most Aussies are just exported english, maybe that's why so many of them are c*nts?

 

[Questions]

Just to balance things up .......... a gollyhonky

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

No it's not. Red hair is more prevalent amongst some nationalities and ethnicities, but it's not a racial trait.

Nationalities don't have physical traits, if something is prevalent within a nationality it's because they have a higher % of people from certain racial background within their populus.

And someones ethnicity relates to their race...

 

[Barrel of Fun]

An unusual one there, but... the racist comment is still the same racist comment regardless. A black person shouting such names at a black player would get just as thrown-out at Withdean as a white racist would. The term is racism, whoever is hurling it.

So yes, disgraceful I might indeed say, and I'd still be correct in the assessment.

Surely a racist comment is racist due to the context and intended undertone?

 

[NMH]

Surely a racist comment is racist due to the context and intended undertone?

As well, and I hadn't suggested that wasn't the case - but the point of a same-raced person using racism to insult stands.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

As well, and I hadn't suggested that wasn't the case - but the point of a same-raced person using racism to insult stands.

But was it meant to be derogatory? How could the word '******', between two black men be deemed as racist if there was no racist intent?

 

[User removed 4]

I had a golliwog as a kid, and it didn't make me a racist.

nor me ....................other things did that

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

nor me ....................other things did that

I'm not fussed about what the BBC did. Whatever means are used to get a Thatcher off the tv are fine by me.

 

[User removed 4]

I'm not fussed about what the BBC did. Whatever means are used to get a Thatcher off the tv are fine by me.

im very pleased for you.

 

[NMH]

But was it meant to be derogatory? How could the word '******', between two black men be deemed as racist if there was no racist intent?

It's still a racist expression Bof, and it is still derogatory.

IF two of the same race were calling each other racist names at Withdean,
they are out, and with no 'second chance' and no explanation will be heard.

Some friends call each other "you c**t" in jest, but it is still antisocial.

They may decide, like the two black people in your example, that it's acceptable between each other, but that's their affair in private.
Most companies would look down on swearing between two parties too.
It's likely too, that the email example you raised was not their only time of exchanging offensive language - but the email was harder evidence.

Let's put it this way, if you had a multicultural and multiracial workforce, would you completely approve of racist comments flying around your company? Would you like to be sorting through the insults to make sure they were only between same races? Would you suspect that rampant racist comments might end up in trouble of some kind, somewhere down the line (like when another racial member flippantly uses '******' thinking it's a term of endearment that's normal, and okay to use in a friendly social situation)?