I'm a traitor to my blog, four days with no writing...
Had a snow day on Friday, which I didn't see coming... the snow was blinding as I waited for the bus, and the buses were more invisible than ever. Decided that I was not prepared to die in a snowdrift in order to get to work, or catch hypothermia, so I just gave up and stayed in... was plagued by guilt all day though....such is life.
This weekend Simon and I went to Hansa's vegetarian curry retaurant in Leeds, was the best meal out I've had in AGES, really cosy, friendly and a lovely experience all round. It was a teeny area of Leeds that I have never even been to and I loved it straight away, can't wait to move up there.... I really hope I don't go on a machete-wielding attack around the Grand Arcade before that....Cambridge people are doing my brains in. Also watched Kung-Fu Panda, which was brill. So as you can see, I got a lot done...
Spent last week woken up every morning by radio 4 debating this 'golliwog' thing that happened. The fury that such a level of debate was even deemed necessary was enough to make me leap from my bed... The Mail and the Times have all been running pictures of the first illustrations of a 'golliwog', invented as a book character in the 19th century, not to mention that racist old child-hater Enid Blyton and her charming books about the adventures of three little gollwogs, an excerpt:
'Once the three bold Golliwogs, Golly, Woggie, and Nigger, decided to go for a walk to Bumble-Bee Common. Golly wasn't quite ready so Woggie and Nigger said they would start off without him, and Golly would catch them up as soon as he could. So off went Woggie and Nigger, arm-in-arm, singing merrily their favourite song - which, as you may guess, was Ten Little Nigger Boys.'
HAHAHAAA ooohh, that was their favourite song was it? silly little gollywogs!!
The next Blyton excerpt that I easily found has a 'golliwog' asking Noddy for help and then stealing his car the second his back is turned. Ah yes, a noble, loveable, character, created harmlessly and intending no offence whatsoever.
The 'golliwog's' literary past is being cited in defence Carole Thatcher!
It's a generational thing (no it isn't) it's harmless (no it isn't) she didn't mean to cause offence (so what, she did) she said it off-air (she said it in a workplace, where anyone overhearing has a right to complain). Am I still giving too much credit to the British public in saying that the word 'wog' would not be tolerated? surely??so what the FUCK is the difference???
WHY is an exception being suggested for these dolls? Because they're inanimate? Because they're aimed at children? Surely these two things make them more dangerous?
It has been getting me down that this has drawn such a two sided debate across the media and the country, I have started to feel that if anything, this type of story is becoming more frequent? It's become a cycle whereby I look on the news at work, and if I see the word scandal I think to myself, 'surely it can't be another racist comment?' and it always is.
Is this what will happen from now on, people are scared of seeming like a left-wing activist if they don't put forward an argument in favour of racism? The whole story is being labelled as a left-wing conspiracy, simply because Jo Brand was known to have been in the room when it was said, people are implying that she gleefully snitched on poor Carole Thatcher, who was 'unaware' that she'd said anything wrong in referring to a black man as a fucking 'golliwog'!!! God, that bloody Jo Brand, what a killjoy! She's worse than a racist, with her confounded belief in equality, and her stupid desire not to sit next to a foul-mouthed racist while she's at work.
Carole Thatcher was too thick even to apologize when it was pointed out to her how totally offensive it was, truly, even when it came to saving her job, her racist values were too close to her heart. It would be against her moral values to apologize for calling someone something racist, she believes that it was the right thing to do, so, it seems, do a large proportion of our stupid, racist countrymen and women.
Anyway, that's only about 1% of my anger about this particular event, but I can sense that this may not be making for a good blog..........it's certainly making me tense! But it had to be said, as it has been consuming me on occassion, with rage.
Of course, Boris Johnson, mayor of the most culturally diverse city in the world, where over 300 languages are spoken, defended Carole Thatcher, she shouldn't have been fired, he says, and her comments were "...a bit offensive...". This is from a man who has openly used the word 'picannines' , and said that "tribal warriors" would break out in "watermelon smiles" when Tony Blair made a visit to "the Congo".
I guess it should come as no suprise that these things are happening when Boris Johnson can win an election. Britain is moving backwards before our eyes.
hmmm..... do you know what it's like to have to look over your shoulder every time you so much as pull out a boy Rudyard Kipling book?
ReplyDeleteDo you know what it's like to raise children and want them to learn about their culture and their history, in their own country?
Do you know what it is like for you child to think that Diwali is as British as Guy Fawkes night? Do you know what it's like for your culture to be gradually dismantled bit by bit. When each bit is so small, and so insignificant, that no one ever makes a point of each one. Then a generation later, you find that there is nothing left.
If you cry wold often enough, then people stop listening to you, then they stop listening when it matters.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteAs you are posting on a two year old blog that is clearly intended for the consumption of the writer's family and friends in an accusatory and defensive manner, I can only assume that you are riddled with anger and beyond help.
However, I feel that your comment cannot go unchecked. The celebration of diversity and recognition that dated ways of thinking should be seen within the socio-historic context that they came from is in no way a threat to Guy Fawkes night.
Culture is fluid, and if certain practices are discarded over time (as they have been since forever), it is because they have become irrelevant and not because of some sort of hostile takeover.
Liv