Dunedin dairy takes golliwog dolls off the shelves at students' request

The Willowbank Dairy is no longer selling golliwog dolls. Photo / Google Maps

A Dunedin dairy has removed golliwogs from its shelves after a backlash online.

The move comes amid a series of protests around the world, sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of white police in Minneapolis, in the United States, last week.

Willowbank Dairy had reportedly been selling golliwogs for six months, but this week removed them at the request of a group of students.

Golliwogs first appeared in children's books in the 19th century, inspired by blackface entertainers — people who painted their faces black and lips red to imitate a black person, often as a caricature.

A Human Rights Commission spokeswoman previously described the dolls as ''racist caricatures that dehumanise black people''.

A Willowbank Dairy employee, who declined to be named, said students had come in and requested that the golliwogs be removed.

He said the woman who made the dolls had been doing so for more than 50 years, and there had been "no complaints up until now".

He declined to comment further.

University of Otago student magazine Critic this week reported a Willowbank Dairy employee saying the store had been selling homemade golliwogs for six months, and that anyone outraged "are the racist ones".