To see nothing wrong in the traditional nursery rhyme "Baa Baa blck sheep"

[Reallytired]

According to my daugher's nursery the nursery rhyme "Baa Baa black sheep" is racist. They have to sing "Baa Baa multi-coloured rainbow sheep".

Why is the traditional version considered offensive? It seems to me PC gone mad.

YANBU
I'm from Wales and black sheep are interesting because they're quite an anomoly. They exist as a result of a gene throwback even if they're from generations of just white sheep.
So you sometimes get one black sheep in a field of white sheep.

Obviously this is why the rhyme is about a black sheep: they're an interesting freak of nature. NOthing to do with race.

Sorry I don't meant they exist as a result of gene throwback, but that the gene is dominant so the throwback gene can re-emerge even in after generations of white sheep.
"The black sheep in the family" probably has the same roots.

The nursery sounds...er...a bit...

If they choose and ban songs for such stupid interesting reasons, they probably do other things at nursery for equally daft interesting reasons.

It's probably that one to the 'ram sam sam' tune that goes A Pizza Hut, a pizza hut, kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut, macdonalds, macdonalds, kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut'

Someone did point out it was a bit odd to sing in the childrens centre that was only providing juice and fruit to eat in pursuit of 'healthy eating'...

Local playroups here all do "thank you said the master" etc as the second verse.

OMG notcitrus. Free advertising for fast-food companies! Now I would be against that in my child's nursery.

Oh yes, that one! I too was shocked by it at first, but gave up in the end. After all, they're surrounded by advertising in any case. In fact, for a long time my dc didn't undrstand what they were singing. It was only when we discovered a retail park nearby that had all 3 places side by side that they understood the song.

PrettyCandles, it was not Old McDonald who had a farm and knew exactly what stock he kept and their noises. It was the 'Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut, MacDonalds, MacDonalds....

'Ford Escort, Ford Escort, Mini,Mini,Mini,Mini Ford Escort, Ferrari, Ferrari.....

Nothing like catching them young.

haha prettycandles. whyever would children imagine that pointless song could be about three random fast-food chains...

Oh yes, the Pizza Hut song, sung at Preschool. I really couldn't be bothered to get annoyed about that one, my dcs loved all the actions and I really don't think it them want to eat more junk food.......Wasn't as if they'd never heard of Macdonalds before.

We attend a group (Salv. Army) that makes a big point of singing Baa Baa White sheep after a verse of Baa Baa Black Sheep.

I can't get my head around it. Is there something wrong with Black sheep? Does the black sheep get bad-mouthed in the song? Is it cruel to take a sheep's wool, or to domesticate one at all? Is the black sheep wool such rubbish that's why even the insignificant little boy down the lane got a bag of its wool? If all those things are bad, why be cruel to white sheep too, why not ban the song entirely?

In the longer version the white sheep has no wool, so surely the black sheep is being productive and generous and the white sheep is being lazy or tight
'None for the shepherd who tends to the flocks,
and none for the little boy with holes in his socks'

imo, anyone who thinks that you cannot say the word black in any context because it may offend, is themselves a great big racist.

Because THEY make the connection. THEY hear the words blackboard, black sheep, black ice, blackout and THEY think of a black person. And for it to occur to them that it's 'bad' or 'offensive' in some way means that they have made that connection themselves.

So they are really really weird. And more than a little obsessed

When I say blackboard, I do not think of a black person. I think of school!

Only a racist takes the word black and at all times instantly links it mentally to a black person.

Also, the underlying insinuation that 'black' must always be something 'bad'.

As bad as them banning the gollywog from robertsons jam.

"Only a racist takes the word black and at all times instantly links it mentally to a black person"

In high school, a few years ago, we did that classic experiment (in English) of looking through the dictionary at all the words that started with the word "black" and it is very noticeble that the words/phrases often have negative connotations.

The baa baa black sheep scandal however is, well nonsense! My son was singing baa baa yellow sheep the other day, it isn't a reason to teach the children colours it simply is pc gone mad. I was told the myth a few years back (whilst singing it to my then year old) that I shouldn't sing that because it was song about slavery

Gollywogs are most definitely offensive, and if you've ever been called one you'd see why.

Yes, gollywogs are V V offensive.
Black sheep are just an interesting freak of nature.
SongBiird-yes the black=bad, white=good goes back a long long time. But I don't think that's connected to race either because when you think about it many black people aren't really black, and many white people aren't really white, are they? I live in Japan and most Japanese women have naturally whiter skin than any British woman I know. Caucasians are more pinky, or freckly, or olivey, not white.

Only a racist takes the word black and at all times instantly links it mentally to a black person.>>

Exactly.

I want to ask these people "what is wrong with being black then?" cos I don't see it as a bad thing at all though they clearly do.

MNHubbie,
i too, would love to meet an epilepsy sufferer who finds the term 'brain storm' offensive! then i would reconsider my thoughts on not being allowed to use it as the biggest load of crap ever. alas, this isnt an urban myth. sigh.

oh and the 'we're not allowed to put england flags up' thing is really, really getting my goat. theres facebook groups like 'dont like the england flag? you like our benefits though!'
all of those groups are of course made by people who know how to spell and punctuate properly, use proper grammar, and never say 'ther' instead of 'their'

I thought it was all about taxes-" one to the master, one to the dame and one to the little boy who lives down the lane."

saying it's racist is a like not singing Mary Mary cos it's about burning Protestants - but who knows?

frankly it's nonsensical drivel anyway and there are far better nursery rhymes which actually make sense to little kids.

It is PC gone mad.

Baa Baa black sheep is in no way racist

The thing is Sakura, as far as I am aware, African's never labelled themselves "black". So who did and why? But that's a whole other thing and quite off the op!