Walls racist incident

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This was about Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex? That's crazy, it was a very popular European (Swedish) earworm dance song from the 90's the video for which makes fun of rednecks. Its current popularity is nothing but 90's nostalgia.


Exactly. But folks on here who don’t know anything about the context have already jumped to the conclusion that these kids were evil and racist.
Apparently there can be no other explanation period.
It is disappointing that the school had the knee jerk reaction to suspend the students.


No, it's not all about the song or the TikTok. That's been explained repeatedly and literally no one except the "how can you call them evil" brigade has used the word evil. I'll never believe that people this disingenuous are actually seeking a better society. A large number of kids walked out about unequal treatment, and all you care about is whether the jactions of the white TikTokker are getting the most generous possible interpretation on DCUM.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This was about Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex? That's crazy, it was a very popular European (Swedish) earworm dance song from the 90's the video for which makes fun of rednecks. Its current popularity is nothing but 90's nostalgia.


Exactly. But folks on here who don’t know anything about the context have already jumped to the conclusion that these kids were evil and racist.
Apparently there can be no other explanation period.
It is disappointing that the school had the knee jerk reaction to suspend the students.


No, it's not all about the song or the TikTok. That's been explained repeatedly and literally no one except the "how can you call them evil" brigade has used the word evil. I'll never believe that people this disingenuous are actually seeking a better society. A large number of kids walked out about unequal treatment, and all you care about is whether the jactions of the white TikTokker are getting the most generous possible interpretation on DCUM.


Except kids got suspended for it.

Here's the song and video for reference
[youtube]
https://youtu.be/mOYZaiDZ7BM[/youtube]
Anonymous
people can unintentionally do hurtful things sure. amends may be very much in order here. but intent still matters because otherwise one lives in a world where one has to constantly walk on eggshells which cuts against wanting a diverse public school community to genuinely be friends with and learn from one another. the underlying issue is that this thread was presumably started to villainize this particular incident and the students involved. i dont know the students involved, but high school students are not adults and may deserve a measure of grace where everyone does not immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This was about Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex? That's crazy, it was a very popular European (Swedish) earworm dance song from the 90's the video for which makes fun of rednecks. Its current popularity is nothing but 90's nostalgia.


Exactly. But folks on here who don’t know anything about the context have already jumped to the conclusion that these kids were evil and racist.
Apparently there can be no other explanation period.
It is disappointing that the school had the knee jerk reaction to suspend the students.


No, it's not all about the song or the TikTok. That's been explained repeatedly and literally no one except the "how can you call them evil" brigade has used the word evil. I'll never believe that people this disingenuous are actually seeking a better society. A large number of kids walked out about unequal treatment, and all you care about is whether the jactions of the white TikTokker are getting the most generous possible interpretation on DCUM.


They were referred to as "vicious racists" upthread.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This was about Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex? That's crazy, it was a very popular European (Swedish) earworm dance song from the 90's the video for which makes fun of rednecks. Its current popularity is nothing but 90's nostalgia.


Exactly. But folks on here who don’t know anything about the context have already jumped to the conclusion that these kids were evil and racist.
Apparently there can be no other explanation period.
It is disappointing that the school had the knee jerk reaction to suspend the students.


No, it's not all about the song or the TikTok. That's been explained repeatedly and literally no one except the "how can you call them evil" brigade has used the word evil. I'll never believe that people this disingenuous are actually seeking a better society. A large number of kids walked out about unequal treatment, and all you care about is whether the jactions of the white TikTokker are getting the most generous possible interpretation on DCUM.


They were referred to as "vicious racists" upthread.


There was a lot of attacking in this thread before anyone mentioned that the walkout was actually about unequal treatment.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:people can unintentionally do hurtful things sure. amends may be very much in order here. but intent still matters because otherwise one lives in a world where one has to constantly walk on eggshells which cuts against wanting a diverse public school community to genuinely be friends with and learn from one another. the underlying issue is that this thread was presumably started to villainize this particular incident and the students involved. i dont know the students involved, but high school students are not adults and may deserve a measure of grace where everyone does not immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion.


Yes! This is such a thoughtful take. The kids can both be wrong and NOT be racist. They can learn, and evolve.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:2 white kids on the baseball team took a consentual video of a black student, then posted the video online but edited it with a racist song about slavery. Disgusting.


The song they used is a very popular TikTok song.
It is unlikely the kids were thinking about the meaning of the song or making the connection to slavery.


Well, if it's on TikTok, it must be okay. "It's origins are a racist tune that utilises awful, racist stereotypes about Black people, who were enslaved in America when it was initially written."


Why hasn’t anyone named the song?


Cotton Eye Joe


I had no idea. We used to dance to this song (clean version) in college in early 2000s.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is NOT a racist song. Period. Doesn’t anyone remember the techno version from the 90s by some Swedish group? If anything it was making fun of white American stereotypes. It is also a long running *baseball* tradition. https://www.mlb.com/cut4/fernando-rodney-marl...ragg-game-c187828322

It’s entirely possible that the Black child or Walls classmates interpreted the song as racist. But they were wrong.

I hope the Walls admin handles this appropriately, but I doubt it.


Boy, I can see the arguments that the students didn't know what they were doing. And, we should lean towards giving children the benefit if the doubt. But, it's something to see such a denial of the complicated history of the song. Words such as "He was de nig dat sarved me so" are right there to see and it was a popular song in minstrels where blackface was central. Other and more modern variations don't change this history.

We should not try to destroy these young men. But, we also should not dismiss the reaction as political correctness gone wrong.


Those lyrics are not in the 90s version of the song. When it is played today the true stereotype being perpetuated is of ignorant white “hicks” or “rednecks.”

But of course we can evolve in our understanding and preferences.


+1 I thought this song was making fun of country bumkins and the South.

I'm non-white and grew up in the Northeast.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My biracial kid is at walls. He is a senior and has had a good experience.
He is on a couple of sports teams but not baseball. In his opinion, some students are more sensitive and more easily offended than others.
He has not experienced or seen any race issues at Walls. Not saying they don’t exist but fortunately his experience at the school has been positive.
He thinks any racial issues at the school are most likely unintentional. He likes the Walls community a lot and appreciates how inclusive it is.
He believes the school should not have suspended the baseball students. He thinks if a parent was offended, then a conversation should have been scheduled to educate the students on the racial connotations of the song. This is obviously just one student’s opinion. Others may disagree.


I hope you’re teaching your kid that whenever anyone says something is offensive to them, instead of thinking of them as “sensitive”, they should be heard and believed. Also, please teach him that even if an issue is unintentional, that doesn’t make it not racist. I really hope you’re not letting him get away with brushing off the very real experiences and feelings of other Black students on campus.


NP but this parent is letting their kid ‘get away’ with something by expressing his experiences with the school? He can have a different experience and opinion. All non white kids at the school are not a monolith. It didn’t say he was sweeping feelings under the rug. He is entitled to his experience at the school.
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