Is it racially offensive to have a pickaninny doll?
It’s a little doll with a pretty dress and a scarf on her head, I guess like a little Aunt Jemima. I received it as a gift when I was traveling in the South. At first I felt a little funny about keeping it, but then I read that they were reproductions of dolls that were fondly owned by little southern girls, both black and white. I’ve kept it as a souvenir of my travels, but my husband dismisses it as a racist symbol. I’m no racist, I just think she’s a cute and historic symbol of African-American girls at the turn of the century. Stereotypical, yes, but so are modern dolls like Bratz and G.I. Joe.
I have her displayed in my office along with a variety of southern souvenirs like an alligator head and a grassbasket full of cotton blooms.
Oddly enough, the biggest collectors of racially offensive Black Americana, like your doll, are African-Americans, and some pieces sell in auctions on eBay for a LOT of money, too!
In any case, no, it’s not generically politically incorrect for you to own it, just be sensitive as to how, and where, and to whom, you show it, and you’ll be just fine.
