Reciently I've seen alot of discussion and debate on this topic. The issue seems to be changing the word "black" to "rainbow" because "black" is racist. It seems we are forgetting something...
Growing up, I was taught that this song was about slavery. The sheep that is refered to as a "black sheep" isn't a sheep at all. It refers to a black person. While 'have you any wool" refers to cotton. This story/song refers to somone making sure the slave has picked enough cotton for the day.
Has anyone ever considered that maybe we shouldn't sing this song because of that fact? It would be like years down the road, there comes a song about the times during the Holocaust. Or maybe the times during the apartheid in South Africa. Or the times when the Japanese were put into camps in America. Eventually someone effected in some shape or form is gonna step up and say "Hey, I don't appreciate this song, and I wish you would stop singing it"
Has anyone ever thought of it that way, and not just because the fricken sheep is black?
Growing up, I was taught that this song was about slavery. The sheep that is refered to as a "black sheep" isn't a sheep at all. It refers to a black person. While 'have you any wool" refers to cotton. This story/song refers to somone making sure the slave has picked enough cotton for the day.
Has anyone ever considered that maybe we shouldn't sing this song because of that fact? It would be like years down the road, there comes a song about the times during the Holocaust. Or maybe the times during the apartheid in South Africa. Or the times when the Japanese were put into camps in America. Eventually someone effected in some shape or form is gonna step up and say "Hey, I don't appreciate this song, and I wish you would stop singing it"
Has anyone ever thought of it that way, and not just because the fricken sheep is black?