White supremacy is so insidious that it’s ingrained in many nursery rhymes we learn generationally. Should we stop teaching our children these racist songs?White supremacy is so insidious that it’s ingrained in many nursery rhymes we learn generationally. Should we stop teaching our children these racist songs?
Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo
We’ve all heard this classic, but the original lyrics may be new. Instead of catching a tiger by the toe, this song was about catching us! “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo. Catch a nigger by the toe.”
Ten Little Monkeys
This song teaches children to count, but its history is sinister. It comes from a nursery rhyme, “Ten Little Niggers”, which counts down ten ways for our children to die. “Ten little nigger boys went out to dine. One choked his little self, and then there were nine.” Swapping out the n-word for monkey, often used as a slur against us, isn’t any better.
Ice Cream Song
When this sound blares through our neighborhoods, we know it means the ice cream truck is coming. But the ice cream song has not-so-sweet origins from a racist song called “Nigger Love A Watermelon! Ha Ha Ha!”
Pick A Bale Of Cotton
“Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton. Gotta jump down, turn around. Oh, Lordie, pick a bale a day.” Why did a song not written for children become a nursery rhyme?
Black children deserve better. We don’t have to keep teaching these songs!