Pub That Proudly Displayed Golliwogs Forced To Close Due To Boycott From Suppliers

I had almost forgotten that the main characters on the internet a few weeks ago were the landlords at The White Hart down in Essex who decided to defy a police order and proudly display some racist Golliwog dolls, but it turns out things haven’t worked out so well for them. What a surprise.

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I figured everything had just died down over there, but it turns out that Benice and Christopher Riley have been forced to close the pub after operating it for twenty years. We already talked about how the pub had been vandalised with several windows broken, but now Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) have removed the pub from their Good Beer Guide and suppliers Heineken and Carlsberg have told the pub that they will no longer be providing them with their beverages.

Sadly, that means that Chris and Benice have decided to shut down The White Hart, closing the doors for good after Monday’s May Day bank holiday. Here’s what Benice had to say about the situation:

We’ve had enough.

I feel gutted, totally and utterly gutted. Hurt, upset.

We’ve had a few bits of hate, which I personally don’t understand.

The young people these days don’t understand, from years ago where the Gollys originated from, it’s such a shame.

That’s my collection. They’re antiques, some of them. I want them back.

I’m gonna miss the pub. I’m gonna miss the people.

We’ve had so many laughs in here. We’ve had so much happiness in here.

I can probably count on one hand the problems we’ve ever had in here.

Chris has still got to be questioned on the 18th of May so I can get my Gollys back and let’s see if he’s going to be charged with anything.

Well that does sound pretty awful for the woman, but I just can’t understand how she could care so much about something like a childhood doll? Especially when it’s quite clearly racist?

Sure, I loved some of my toys from when I was a kid, but I reckon if I never saw them again I wouldn’t mind too much? And if the whole world told me that they were racist and deeply offensive, then I think I’d probably just listen to them and ditch them and not try and make a stand over free speech or whatever?

I find it so weird that older people are so desperate to take a stand against something that can’t mean that much to them and are willing to put their livelihood on their line because of it. Even at the end of her quote all that Benice cares about is getting her gollys back. Real example of nailing your colours to the mast and sticking with it no matter what. So weird.

Of course, there’s the very real possibility that her and her husband are massive racists, as detailed by some of Christopher’s very questionable Facebook posts. Either way, I hope they manage to find a source of income and aren’t completely ruined over this. Not sure if they really need to get their dumb Golly dolls back though. Prob best to let that one go.