A Golliwog is a character from English literature written in the late 19th century by the author Florence Kate Upton. The Golliwog was based on a black faced minstrel doll she had found in an attic as a child. The character in the books was a rag doll and eventually the Golliwog caught on as a children’s toy. The dolls were very popular in Great Britain and also in America up until the 1960’s or so. They were seen as completely appropriate to give to a child, just as appropriate as giving a child a teddy bear.

Of course over time the Golliwog took on negative stereotypes and the word itself became derogatory slang towards black people. Just like the book  Little Black Sambo took on new meanings in American culture and changed the way we see racism today. There are still those that argue both sides off the coin as both of these were literary works that really had nothing to do with racism but became racist icons by the use of the words Sambo and Golliwog.

In the politically correct world of the 21st century you would be hard pressed to find Golliwog’s or Little Black Sambo books easily in America or Britain but if you are headed to Thailand you’ll find plenty of Golliwog’s.

The Thai’s seem to have a facination devoid of racial beliefs with these dolls. You’ll see them in miniature form dangling from cell phones or in larger form being dragged around and loved by their miniature owners. Sometimes you can even find them as big as a man so you can have your picture taken with them. And you can almost always find them in A Thai garden if you look long enough.

I’ve heard all manner of reaction to the Golliwogs found in Thailand from absolute disgust to sincere indifference. There is no doubt that these dolls will always raise a reaction from the western tourists as we have all been subjected to political correctness now for well over two decades. What I find odd is the reaction towards Thai’s. The Thai’s don’t see them as racial idols and they certainly don’t use the term Golliwog in a racially derogatory manner.  I’m sure the more pure among us may think that it is insensitive of the Thai’s because this is the 21st century and everyone should be sensitive of racism.

Being that there are no black people in Thailand except for the visitors I don’t see how it could be a racial thing but that is just my opinion. There are other examples such as the old Darkie toothpaste which used a caricature of a man in black face in their advertising, or the the Black Man mops. Truthfully I don’t see either as racially motivated either. Darkie did eventually change the name to Darlie and got rid of the black faced advertising though.

Oddly enough there is very real racism that goes on in Thailand which is Thai against Thai. This racism is color based and stems from some Thai’s being very light skinned and some being very dark skinned which borderlines being black. Although that racism exists I have never heard either side utter a bad word against an actual black person as a matter of fact most Thai’s I’ve heard refer to a black person as chocolate  and I have yet to meet a Thai that doesn’t love chocolate.

I guess the real question here is do we as politically correct westerners have the right to force our opinions and beliefs on Thai society because of our righteous indignation when the Thai’s themselves have never tied racism to these things. Or is it upsetting to most western tourists not because of the perceived racism but because the perceived guilt that has been programed into us over the last few decades?

What do you think?