Perhaps councillor Dawn Barnett derives a warm sense of nostalgia from having a golliwog magnet on her boiler (The Argus, August 30).

Others, however, recognise a vestige of the most vile racism.

The golliwog, as a product of minstrelsy, developed in the US in the years following the American Civil War.

The golliwog character, often a blacked-up white performer, presented a stereotyped image of black ex-slaves as indolent and ignorant.

As ever, racist cultural expression found its reflection in racist practice. Minstrelsy stereotyping went hand in hand with the routine murder of black ex-slaves by white racists, principally the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.

The golliwog as a cultural artefact, far from being harmless fun that “political correctness” seeks to ban, is stained with the blood of thousands of lynched blacks.

Stephen McLean, Campbell Road, Brighton

When are we going to be less over-sensitive and stop petty arguments over things such as golliwogs?

They are merely a rag-type doll which for years was used by Robertsons jam as a trademark on its products.

The way things are heading, it will not be long before run-of-the-mill white dolls are deemed offensive and owning pictures of monkeys gets you put on an offending register.

Let’s get back to sorting out the more serious problems in the world.

B Langley, Chyngton Gardens, Seaford