5 Little Monkeys - racist?

There are Black museums through the US, maybe contacting the curators can help.

That is such a great idea! Thanks!! :prop:

You are welcome, hope you find a home for your books what better way than to teach another generation of what not to do. :-)

Did someone say that the original words to the song were with "N"? I heard that some people sang a version of the song with N, but that's totally different than the original song being with the "N" word. Could you point me to where it said that? I'm too lazy to go back and try and re-read everything here...I want to look into that also. I am of a mind that almost anything can be taken and turned racist by people who are of a mind too. You know? That is different (to me) than an innocent song or verse that someone then took and swapped out an animal with the N word. For me, it's all in what the intentions were at the creation I guess. Not that this is a center point in our lives (I don't think I've ever even sang it to them) but I would be interested to know.

Aclee, Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation of the history of "Eeny Meeny". You can read all about it at [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe]Eeny, meeny, miny, moe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url]. By the way, I learned the racist version when I was about 3 or 4 years old...back in 1957 or 1958. My dad just about had a heart attack when he heard me singing it. So he taught me the "catch a rabbit" version instead.

The origins of these nursery rhymes are quite surprising, I must say. Can you imagine how NOT relaxing the song "Rock-a-bye Baby" would be to any infant if they could actually comprehend the words??

Fadzi, I actually remember being very frightened of the "Rock-a-bye Baby" lullaby when I was a little girl. The other nursery rhyme that freaked me out was "The Old Woman in the Shoe." She used to whip her children all soundly and put them to bed every night. The other thing that scared me was the nightly prayer I said with my mom, the one that says, "if I should die before I wake..." What the heck? You've got children dying in their sleep, being tossed out of trees in their cradles, and being whipped on a daily basis! Who thought these things up, lol?

Exactly, Raven LOL! This sentiment of "let's terrorize the children" was crazy!

You know I have to admit that reading some of these links about nursery rhymes was a real eye opener and totally appauling. I can see why people would make such associations. However I do believe somehow this thread got a little off track as far as certain areas being racist go. I want to also mention that my original intention was that CC parents will AA children or vice verse would not turn a head here where I live or in many parts of Boston's inner city. The same goes for interacial couple. It really is not a big deal to the point where it not at all uncommon. As far as racism, I am sure it can be found everywhere and anywhere even in all AA areas. I will aslo add that this was never my intention to debate certain neighborhoods. We can only speak of what we have lived and experienced and if there are racist people in the NorthEnd.SouthEnd,EastBoston. BeaconHill ect they are not included in my circle of friends or associates. I feel I should set this straight. Lastly, yesterday I again mentioned this to my BFF who happens to be AA and she again asked me why I would continue to bring this up. I did explain to her and sent her the link to this thread and her exact words were, "It is what is was and there is no way you can change the past it what YOU do with now and the future is all that matters, sometimes you need to let things go or they will consume you to the point of affecting your now" I thought about it and have to agree with her. I by no means was attempting to deny or dispute that these orgins did not happen. That is all I have to say about this thread except that it has been an eye opener. ETA Raven you may want to check out this museum I havebeen there and it is amazing as far as museums go. I have seen some of that stuff on Ebay and have no idea why anyone would want to buy or collect such stuff. [url=http://www.afroammuseum.org/boston_campus.htm]Museum of African American History - Boston Campus[/url]

Raven, I always thought that children's prayer was a little weird....makes me glad I had the Spanish one instead.... it doesn't sound as good translated but the gist is In peace I go to sleep and in peace I will sleep the night because it's only you God/Jesus will keep me safe and secure that's a much nicer prayer don't you think? Aclee: it was about the eeny meenie minnie moe....the link is provided since I didn't get back to this thread until now.

Education is the key, huh?Considering that most of the Blacks/AA on this site are professional, middle class etc; how has it consumed us? a couple made comments in this thread. Ask your friend that riddle, where does being consumed (I am assuming in a negative sense) take a Black person in this society? You still negated the crux of this discussion as in the past, if you took time out to really understand you would not continue to refute other folks experience, when frankly you can never be in their shoes. Maybe you can step back and listen/read good cross section of Blacks povs instead of the one that lines up with how you think. As for in their own shoes tra parents have to hash these issues in history because it was not their people's experience, but they are reviewing to to see if it will or will not apply to their Black child. Those who adopt Asian or Latino kids hopefully do the same with their history. I think most have enough common sense to know the difference between being consumed and filing away (or not) for reference. Would you like to have someone negate that part of your life where in you are an adoptee? tell you how you should feel, process, and discuss? Would you like a non adoptee to say you are consumed with that aspect of your life? Think about that.

Actually the adoptee correlation would not work for me because adoption is and always was a very small part of my life. So I guess it is not fair to paint anyones experiences with the same brush. What may have hd impact on somes life in a big way may not be such a deal for the next person. Anyhow I have learned from this thread and that is what matters. EZ

Yes, it does work because you were adopted... and it's yours to say how big or small adoption is or was a part of your life right? denial vs. angry is the extreme descriptors that I note. So I recommend that you view the same "brush/generalization" in this situation too.

I guess we are going to have to respectfully agree to disagree on that one because I am a human being who just happens to be an adoptee, I am a wife and mother ,ect but before all else I am a person. See where I am going . Unless I am not understanding what you are trying to say. I have no problem with being an adoptee in fact I am very blessed to have been but that does not define me. Unless you are saying that their are different degrees of what and how much something impact us as to what can be used to describe us( male/female/AA/CC ect) then I can agree. Do I know there are adoptees that are not happy, yes but that does not describe me so it all goes back how one percieves things and how they react according to their experiences. I will always be an adoptee and I know there are adoptees with some issues. I am aware of that because of reading and communicating with other adoptees. EZ

You may be viewed as an adoptee who has issues too.Compare your perception of being consumed with the past vs. labels such as an adoptee being in denial of their loss vs. angry about their loss or being lied to etc; Again I used the descriptors as an example.. because imo these are negative labels. Otherwise, you are almost there with the gist of my last post.