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I found this in the news.... What are your thoughts?

Superintendent Tresa Zumsteg decided Monday to remove the song "Pick a Bale of Cotton" from the program, said Gwen Ahearn, spokeswoman for the Berkley School District.

Ahearn said that when the song was picked for Wednesday's folk songs concert at Anderson Middle School, there was no intent to offend anyone.

"As it became apparent that that is the case, we pulled the song," she said.

The school is predominantly white.

The song's lyrics include, "Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton. Gotta jump down, turn around, Oh, Lordie, pick a bale a day."

Parent Greg Montgomery said he complained to school officials, and when he was dissatisfied with their response, decided to pull his 11-year-old daughter, China, from singing.

"It's mind-boggling that people don't understand sensitive issues," he told The Detroit News.

China said: "They were bringing back the memories of how African-Americans picked cotton, and it wasn't a good memory. It was disrespectful to African-Americans."

Ahearn said there's nothing derogatory in the song's lyrics, but the district did not want China to miss the concert.

"For her family and the school district, the best thing was to pull the song," she said.

Earlier, Ahearn, while confirming that officials were considering pulling the song, had defended the choice.

"We used to sing that song when I was in school during the '50s," she said. "It's like a Southern type of folk song. I remember it being perky. It was more of a song that people just sang for fun."

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Aaron Fleming


Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:07 pm
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What do I think? I think because of the strong connections this song has with slavery and the cottonfields, the school should have considered the possiblity of it being offensive. This song "Pick a Bale of Cotton" sounds like a song that should bring joy. And I believe that is what it was intended to do when it was created: It was intended to bring joy in the midst of oppression. However, when one hears this song today, does one think of "joy" or "oppression"? Does the answer depend upon one's own cultural history? While for most, I believe this song is one that merely entertains, for others this must be a song that evokes images and painful reminders associated with slavery, disrepect and inhumanity. And then there are still others who feel the song should be documented, preserved and sung as a means to support cultural diversity. It is interesting that such a simple, little song can be so controversial.

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Paige Hoffman


Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:09 pm
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I struggle with this issue. I feel that we shutter at the very mention of anything opressive and run the other way, instead of educating our students about these events. It is our duty to teach the events that happened in our nation, and the cultures of those times. And cultures include songs among other things. Maybe this song isn't entirely appropriate for a program at a predominately white school... but what about the non-white population??

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Julia Cooley


Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:30 pm
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