Calls to tar and feather yet another tall poppy

First, it was the highly successful rugby league player Israel Folau who was metaphorically tarred and feathered for his Christian beliefs, and now the witch hunters are calling for people across New Zealand to victimise Craig Smith, the highly successful author of the book Wonky Donkey.

His thought crime, for which the vicious thought police want to tar and feather him, is a song he wrote about his childhood golliwog. The members of the ‘Kiwi inquisition’ care not one iota what his intentions were when he wrote the song. They have decided that the song that he has not performed for ten years is racist ? and they want him punished.

These vicious people not only want him punished, they want him publicly humiliated and forced to apologise for his wrong think.

quote.

[…] Craig Smith says the song is about his childhood golliwog.
Businesses around the country are being asked not to support children’s author Craig Smith’s tour until he removes and apologises for a song in praise of golliwogs.

Smith, who wrote The Wonky Donkey, also penned Golliwog Song, in which he said he was given a golliwog at age three. “I never looked at his colour, I never looked at his race. I just liked his beautiful hair and smile across his face. If they can make white dolls then why can’t they make black – raise your voice and shout aloud the golliwog’s back.” end quote.

Anyone with half a brain reading that song’s lyrics can see that there is nothing racist about it and, in fact, it is quite the opposite. This is as much of a beat up as what has been done to Israel Folau. Yet again, a group of activists are using social media to destroy a successful person’s life for the crime of saying or singing something they disapprove of. quote.

The video includes a PC policeman.

Over the rest of this month, he’s appearing at venues around the country, including Te Papa.

[…] “I understand that people have genuine concerns about the song,” Smith said. “I never intended to offend anyone in fact the intent was as an anti-racists song.”

But one mother-of-two and early childhood manager, Nicola Bell, said that was not good enough.

“There seems to be a strong agreement that it is time to give nothing to racism. I think that means letting Craig Smith and the venues he performs at know that his Golliwog song is not okay. ” end quote.

What is not okay is nasty pieces of work like Nicola Bell threatening a man’s livelihood over a song he wrote with zero ill intent and one that he hasn’t sung for ten years. I wonder if she pulled the wings off flies when she was little? quote.

[…] She urged people who were worried to contact the venues he is due to perform at and express their concern.

Beth Lenihan was also worried. “I think it’s really concerning that people are choosing to focus on the fact that he’s not performing the song not the fact that he is defending the song and denying that the song is racist.”

“They want for him to actually understand the issues with it and make a statement about them – to present right values and let everyone know where he stands, as a role model. He would actually get so much kudos from doing that.” end quote.

Bloody thought police, thinking that they get to determine what the “right values” are. They have no respect at all for people who hold different opinions. As I have said before on Whaleoil, my adopted Tongan Aunty hand-knitted a Golliwog for me when I was a child. I would like to see Nicola Bell and Beth Lenihan look my Aunty in the eye and tell her that she is a racist.