goodwill pickaninny doll, update

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i was in davis today around noon, and saw the pickaninny doll in the goodwill window. went inside, asked the person at the counter if i could talk to someone about the window display. told them it was racist and distressing, they said they'd take it out. i said thanks. half an hour later walked past again and it was gone.

Comments

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

That's great! Thanks lyonesse for doing this, and also to thespian for mentioning it in the first place. And also thanks for all the informative links that people posted. I often think that my race is irrelevant, but then I realize that having that opinion is just another bit of white privilege, and it's good for me to be reminded now and again that not everyone has the option of ignoring it.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. I still need to go by there anyway but now I have one less errand to run. :)

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

That'll show them.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

Show them what?

[jadelennox]

"That'll show them" implies that the whole concern was about punishing evil racists -- a sentiment which was never expressed either in the original post or in this one. In fact, it was about asking a (probably well-meaning and ignorant) local business to remove something from a window display which both some neighbors and some customers found distressing and racially offensive. All in all, the situation is a win for everybody:

1. Nobody requested punishment
2. Nobody received punishment
3. The business removed the upsetting window display
4. So people are no longer getting hurt.

so if what you mean is "that will show them that responding to customer concerns improve their business and their relationship with the neighborhood" you are right.

[ron_newman]

Thank you! By the time I walked by (2:10 pm) it was already gone, probably because you got there first.

[she-of-emeralds.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[kpht.livejournal.com]

I'm slowly starting to believe you're some kind of dense robot.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

thanks so much for doing that. Like I said, I was concerned that just a phone call would not be heeded. I genuinely think it was a couple callers, paired with actual 'Someone goes in there' attention that would make it known. I would have gone after work if I had not heard from Ron that it was gone as of 2ish yesterday.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

You know what - you may not think you're a racist, but you are coming across to many people like you are fully willing to tolerate it, which means you're enabling racism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microaggression

Like I responded to one of your previous posts, if you turned the situation around, and a man was saying the sort of things you're saying, but about sexist stuff, he'd be helping sexism keep being perpetuated, because he isn't personally affect.

In short, you're helping racism.

[squirrelitude]

How would you feel about them still keeping it out for sale, just not in the front window? Or maybe they'd be best off selling it on eBay to a collector...

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Hooray!

[seltzer92.livejournal.com]

pierceheart, i completely agree with you. there are a lot of trolls in this community it seems.

and thanks to lyonesse. stores need to be responsible for the items they sell.

[smammy]

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I would suggest the latter, if they asked me.

Displaying racist memorabilia in general public spaces is a complicated issue. Selling racist memorabilia directly to the people and institutions who collect it as part of a process of documenting cultural attitudes is less likely to cause passersby understandable upset and concern.