Cleaning up our Nursery Rhymes

Some nursery rhymes are downright silly and senseless, while others have more serious undertones.

Songs, like all cultural artefacts, encode socially constructed meaning, as well as historical truth. They have the power to remind us of what we are proud of; At the same time, they also expose us to parts of our past we are ashamed to confront.

Every time we sing a song, we participate in its social significance. By being critical of them, we make a purposive stance in setting a better paradigm for our shared future.

Thanks to @kindermusik_international for making a definitive stand in removing songs with racially insensitive origins. In a world where political dispositions have become so fluid, knowing that some boundaries are non-debatable brings back a sense of faith in humanity.

Here are some of the songs Kindermusik is removing from its library. The cleaning up is on-going, and our own @KindermusikHK will be following, too.

  • Camptown Races

  • Do Your Ears Hang Low 

  • I’ve Been Working on the Railroad

  • Oh! Susanna

  • Polly Wolly Doodle

  • Shoo Fly!

  • …more to come soon

I’ve also found a list of resources for parents and teachers (see below)— I welcome your suggestions on how to curate better the list of songs we sing with children. #letsdothis

https://gen.medium.com/dinah-put-down-your-horn-154b8d8db12a

https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/08/20/12-childhood-nursery-rhymes-you-didnt-realize-were-racist/

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7v2eq8

https://pocc.nais.org/PoCC/media/documents/Racism-in-Children-s-Music-Presentation.pdf

#KindermusikHK

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