Social media can be a powerful tool to share one’s thoughts and opinions, but it can also prove to be a liability if not used with caution. Recently, the brother of Ireland’s Tánaiste, or deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin found himself in hot water after he tweeted an insensitive comment about race. While he claimed it was a misunderstanding, the tweet sparked outrage and raised questions about the responsibility of individuals and their social media activity. In this article, we’ll explore the incident and its aftermath, and examine the impact of social media on public perception and accountability.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s brother, Fianna Fáil Councillor for Cork City South-Central Seán Martin, has faced backlash for retweeting a social media post by Paul Golding, the leader of the far-right political group Britain First, claiming that the word “golliwog” is not racist. In the now-deleted tweet, Golding argues that golliwogs are not racist because British workers in Egypt during the British Empire who sent them back as presents to their children started the tradition. Golliwogs are black because it was a local Egyptian tradition, and the term “wogs” in golliwogs stands for “Workers On Government Service.” Golding added that it’s time the woke Left stopped being “a bunch of cry babies”. The dolls are, however, regarded as racist caricatures, and the term has been used as a racial slur.
Seán Martin claimed that he mistakenly shared the post in error and removed it. Councillor Martin, who is the Tánaiste’s brother, has since explained that he is not a racist and does not know Golding. During a conversation with the Irish Daily Mail, he said that he should have checked his source and that he had no strong views about the matter, stating that in his time, golliwogs were regarded as more benign terminology. He also clarified that his retweet had nothing to do with Britain First.
However, the Irish Network Against Racism has called for the Fianna Fáil party to strip Seán Martin of his membership, stating that no one in this day and age should believe that golliwogs are not offensive. Director Shane O’Curry said that Fianna Fáil is a signatory of the anti-racism electoral protocol, which guarantees that its public representatives will not reproduce racism in any form. Therefore, he believes that Seán Martin should be stripped of his membership. The Fianna Fáil press office has not yet commented on the situation.
This news comes after Essex police received a complaint about a pub that was displaying the dolls, leading the authorities to raid the establishment. The incident highlights the sensitivity of golliwogs, which many individuals find offensive because of their racist undertones. According to the author and historian David Boyle, the term “golliwog” does not have a clear origin. Although some people believe that it comes from “golly,” which is an obscure abbreviation of “God almighty,” Boyle contends that it could also be an etymological link to the “ghoul,” a type of barber’s chair, or even “goloshes” or rubber boots.
Regardless of its origin, however, most modern interpretations of the golliwog find it to be a racially insensitive and offensive term. British supermarkets and shops stopped selling the dolls years ago, and they are no longer widely available. Nevertheless, ownership of a golliwog is still permitted, and there are still small pockets of individuals who keep them as collector’s items.
In conclusion, while Seán Martin may have tweeted the disputed claim in error, it highlights the ongoing concern around racial representations and their impact in the 21st century. Though some people may view them as innocuous relics of a bygone era, many people rightly see golliwogs as harmful symbols of offensive racial stereotypes. The fact that police were compelled to take action in a British pub, several years after such dolls left supermarket shelves, demonstrates this sensitivity, which organisations such as the Irish Network Against Racism wish to address.
