Should children be protected from racist nursery rhymes?
In Scotland, a children's entertainment association has decided to ban several songs from its repertoire because of their "racist historical legacy".
Scottish Book Trust is a Scottish association whose ambition is to open children and young people to culture and more specifically to reading and writing.
Among its various programs, it offers "Bookbug", presented on its website as "
free events for children aged 0 to 5
", lasting approximately "
30 minutes
" and including "
songs, nursery rhymes and a story
.
In the "copyright and origins of songs and rhymes" tab of its website, Scottish book trust announces that it has removed "
the songs Jump Jim Joe, Five Little Monkeys and Little Pebbles from its repertoire, as it has been ported to our attention that these songs have a racist historical heritage
“, as the Telegraph reports.
Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed |
Children Nursery Rhyme |
Flickbox Kids Songs - YouTube
Lyrics of the song Five Little Monkeys
First verse
Five little monkeys jumping on the bedOne fell down and bumped his headMama called the doctor and the doctor saidNo more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Second verse
Four little monkeys jumping on the bedOne fell down and bumped his headMama called the doctor and the doctor saidNo more monkeys jumping on the bed!
(So on with “three little monkeys”, “two little monkeys” and “one little monkeys”)
Last verse
One little monkey jumping on the bedShe fell down and bumped her headMama called the doctor and the doctor saidPut those monkeys back to bed !
Jump Jim Joe MVI 0712 - YouTube
Jump Jim Joe lyrics
Jump, jump, jump Jim JoeShake your headAnd nod your headAnd tap your toe Round and 'round and 'round you'll goThen you choose another partnerAnd you jump Jim Joe!
What “
racist historical heritage
” is it?
Five Little Monkeys is a children's nursery rhyme with perfectly innocent lyrics.
But originally it may have been sung in 19th century America with the lyrics
Five Little Neegers
(
Five little Negroes
).
It is also possible that it originated from the song
Shortnin' Bread
, composed on the plantations, some versions of which refer to a slave being punished for stealing bread and cooking utensils.
Same thing for
Jump Jim Joe
: the song could originally have been titled
Jump Jim Crow,
in reference to Jim Crow, a black character making fun of African-Americans.
Finally, the nursery rhyme
Little Pebbles
is used to teach children to count.
But then again, earlier versions of the song would have used the word "Indians" instead of "pebbles".
On its website, Scottish Book Trust clearly displays its support for the "
LGBTQI+
" cause and its desire to disseminate this ideology in the cultural content it offers.
Little Pebbles lyrics
One little, two little, three little pebblesFour little, five little, six little pebblesSeven little, eight little, nine little pebblesTen little pebbles sitting in my hand
