Mommies, what has your experience been with these songs? Have you heard them played in children’s play spaces? Seen them performed in school programs? Watched them in animations? How do you feel about keeping these songs in rotation? Do new lyrics make it ok? Should they still be taught to children as fun songs or only to adults for historical purposes?Īngele is a wife to a wonderful creative husband, mother to two beautiful intelligent daughters and a lover of art, education and laughter. In more modern recordings, “Mammy” has been replaced with “Mama”, and the “N-word” and “darkies” has been replaced with “children.” Other verses that can be viewed in the book contain more racial slurs but are usually not present in modern recordings. Mammy’s little baby loves short’nin bread Mammy’s little baby loves short’nin short’nin Nevertheless, the original lyrics as recorded by American Ballads and Folk Songs By John Avery Lomax are printed as such: I’se gwine to Lou’siana my true lub for to see.Īnother song that has deep roots in American history is none other than “Shortnin Bread.” After viewing Donald Duck singing this tune while making pancakes, it would seem that the tune is innocent.
I come from Alabama with my Banjo on my knee. Foster, a sample of the original lyrics goes like this: Known to many as a love song and to others as a children’s camp song, “Oh Susanna” has it’s origins in minstrel shows. Now the “Woggle Power” reference from 30 Rock makes sense. Harris gave a half hearted apology for these lyrics, then shamed Aboriginal people for their misfortune in Australia. However the original version of this song contains a racial slur against Aboriginal Australians. Like many songs that have racist origins, the most recent versions simply eliminate the racial epithets. There is actually a real children’s music band in Australia called the “Wiggles.” Among their many recordings is a song called “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport” written by Rolf Harris. I didn’t really get this episode until now.
There was a scene in which one of the band members says, “Woggle Power” and then it is explained that “woggle” means white. A couple of years ago my husband and I were watching an episode of 30 Rock called “Meet the Woggles.” In this episode there was an Australian Children’s Band called The Woggles.
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