Offendatron of the Day

Step forward Graham Waller.

‘Seeing an outdated and offensive stereotype in a public place, and especially in a charity shop and at the level of passing children, was concerning.’

Yup, all buttons pressed – including chiiiildreeen, outrage suitably expressed and virtue signalling credentials suitably pressed.

They were soft toys for crying out loud. Get over yourself. Oh, that’s right, there’s some virtue signalling to be done, isn’t there. Can’t pass up the chance to be a pompous offendatron in public, now, can we?

Jenny Hincks, on the other hand seems to be remarkable in that she has some common sense – a rare attribute these days.

Cirencester town councillor Jenny Hincks, who represents Watermoor, said she believes, however, that the dolls are a matter of ‘personal preference’.

She said: ‘If it does offend someone maybe it would be of benefit for them to go into the shop and ask them to remove it from the window.

‘It doesn’t mean the shop can’t sell it, as that is their prerogative. Personally it doesn’t offend me.

‘I expect there are people who are scared of them. There are people who have strange phobias (you ain’t kidding – Ed).

‘I do understand and respect people’s point of view that it is offensive. But it’s not my right to tell a shop they can’t sell something.’

Well, that’s that then. No problem. Nothing to see here. Only some offendatron was upset at the sight of a couple of soft toys.

SRtRC says the dolls’ large lips, frizzy black hair and traditional minstrel attire are the product of a ‘racist sentiment’.

The charity’s spokesman added: ‘The sale of these dolls perpetuate racism as they hark back to a time when the mockery and stereotyping of black people was considered a social norm.

Nope. They are soft toys. I had one as a child. I also had a Pelham puppet golliwog too. It was just a puppet, nothing else. I do hope we are not paying for this “charity”.

SRtRC urges the public to refrain from buying such overtly racist items and we hope the shop selling the dolls would consider taking them out of the store as one cannot profit on the oppression of an entire community.

Riiight. There’s an answer to that one…

In a multicultural and ethnically diverse Britain, such items no longer have a place.

Really? Sez who? You? Since when did you get to be boss?

Mr Waller, of Keynsham, said the dolls do a disservice to the RSPCA’s founding member William Wilberforce, who helped bring slavery to an end in Britain.

See what he did there?