12 Childhood Nursery Rhymes You Didn’t Realize Were Racist

By Olivia | Published on August 20, 2015 | Updated on February 1, 2019 9:59 AM EST

https://youtu.be/2q46ZKx6oCE

‘Bowl of Cherries’

This children’s song was adapted from a tune titled Pick a Bale of Cotton. A 2014 article published by Baby & Blog conveys that:

“The cover, ‘Bowl of Cherries’ was adapted by Norman Jones,” whose website states the following: “There is an old work song that sings about picking cotton and it has the catchiest hook ever. I have no reason to sing about working in the fields as a slave, so one day in a random moment of silliness on stage I sang about cherries.” Yet, his statement is problematic due to the fact that it disregards the harsh and inhumane conditions from which the context of the tune arose. The article argues that “calling ‘Pick a Bale of Cotton’ an old work song, is like calling a slave master a mean supervisor.”

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