when i was little i was taught the nursery rhyme BAA BAA Black sheep ?

Question

has society gone mad , how is that song offensive
i would like you view
like back bags have to be called refuse sacks or bin liners
is this politically correct
or is it over the top, everyone i know who is black thinks it ridiculous even the banning of gollywogs, i have one it worth a fortune because of it and the little badges you used to get on jam
Mad - well i think it is

Answer 1

yes, i agree, and your point is?

oh, sorry, you think that your opinion counts anymore.



you are the wrong colour and the wrong religion to have a say in what you think is your country!

Answer 2

It is not ridiculous to ban such trash because some people find it offensive. This is due to the ideas behind them when black people were ridiculed because of the colour of their skin. You will get over it if you try BAA BAA White sheep. It rhymes the same so you will have no problem with it. Like some years ago it was OK to say kill all Jews and Homosexuals but as people wised up a bit it has become illegal. People still get by, don't you think?

Answer 3

It is as you & everyone else has pointed out quite ridiculuous, even your black friends agree as do mine.
But how & why has it become law.....because the legal system in this country has become as fatally flawed as the American system. Allowing all to challenge common sense in the hope that some financial reward can be gained for feigning 'distress, stress & hurt feelings'.
Local governments & companies in the UK basically put up the 'shutters' as they saw a rush of legal challenges from all & sundry with the introduction of the Human Rights act from Brussels.
The UK went one step further by introducing a pathetic law called something like 'racial hate law'. It was a knee jerk reaction in typical Blairite fashion, a useless law with enormous potential for manipulation.
Now you can not use words like 'gollywog, black bag, Baa baa blacksheep, etc in public without being fined/imprisoned.....yet....not too long ago....the muslims paraded through London with banners & posters proclaiming that all whites/christians should be destroyed.....what did the police/government do about it......bugger all is the answer...in fact it was a an absolute disgrace that the police did not wade in & take away the offending banners & arrest the holders.

Time to stand up people.....& protect England for those who do not baulk at being called 'English', anyone who does not should be politley asked to bugger off.

Answer 4

I think its rediculous that we cant teach our children a classic nursery rhyme because it say black in it! along with all your other points i think political correctness has gone too far and crossed that very fine line ! like the black bag ! we are being observant when we say its black! unless theres been a complaint made by a magic black bag who said we are hurting its little plastic feelings then im sorry but its a BLACK bag! and it will always be "Baa baa BLACK sheep" We are not being racist, as its either inanimate objects or a word in a song we are stating, is black, observation is a far cry from racism !! the people who are offended by this and PC can kiss my WHITE A*S*S !!!

Answer 5

It is Political correctness gone wrong, and I am going to complain to the government. I have more power then them. I know lots of multi-cultural people, and they learnt Baa Baa Black sheep, and were not offended by it. The only reason the government has introduced PC is to stop terrorists from attacking us. They need to learn that the only way to stop terrorist attacks is to stop bombing other countries when George Bush says so. What about not being able to play conkers without goggles on? I used to love that game.

Answer 6

There's nothing wrong in challenging, confronting and opposing racial prejudice and discrimination. The problem is that the policy of equality of opportunities was led by well-meaning, white middle class liberals with their heads in the clouds, and no black friends. They focused all their energies on finding the "right" words, but did nothing for those they thought they were helping. Then they wondered why Brixton, St Paul's, Toxteth, Handsworth and Moss Side went up in flames in the early 80s. There are still some silly Islington types around who preserve these nonsensical values.

People be realistic here. It is okay to say black. Black sheep do exist, after all. Black power to black people, said the Black Panthers. I say it too. Just be careful with the eeny meany children's selection rhyme. I nominate "ginger" as the substitute word there - and it's an anagram!

Answer 7

Language is a very powerful thing. The word 'black' is often used to describe someone or something as being bad... eg: 'black sheep of the family'. And white is often used to describe something good. Therefore, by extension, 'black' people could be seen as bad and 'white' as good...

This is very simplistic thinking, and I don't believe that anybody but the very suspicious or uneducated really believes those old sayings... which we all know are not true, as there is good and bad in every group, and in every individual!

Trying to change language and peoples use of it to accomodate changes in society can have positive effects and can help in the understanding and appreciation people of different ethnic/social/gender/physical/religious etc backgrounds.

However, you can often end up making things worse by either continually changing terms and confusing the issues (er... is it half-caste, mixed-race or multiple-heritage this month?) or going too far and aiming at the wrong targets. To ban harmless childrens nursery rhymes, and to not be able to refer to things such as black bin bags, blackboards, black coffee etc etc is really quite ludicrous... all it's doing is pandering to the lowest schoolground racist jeerings and trying to eradicate a harmless word used in everyday language to describe a certain colour (or rather, non-colour).

Surely we are all intelligent and grownup enough to see beyond such rubbish? Hmmm... maybe not.

A friend of mine was told by her overly sensitive boss that she shouldn't use the word black to describe 'tea without milk'... even though she is black and he is white. She laughed out loud and made a point of using the word black whenever she could just to embarrass him.

Not sure about gollywogs though. Just the name is pretty offensive. Perhaps you should look up their history. Maybe something to do with slavery in the jam's fruit and sugar plantations? You can't un-invent things but there might be valid reasons for gradually reducing their profile.

As an aside, a friend of mine said several years ago that he felt that 'political correctness' was just a sham in that it makes people with no power or status feel like they have some, thereby negating the need for action to be taken to improve their situation. An interesting point... maybe a bit too 'conspiracy theory' for my liking though!

Answer 8

The world has gone PC mad. Even the Noddy stories had to be modified so that he and Big Ears were not seen in bed together. Nobody in their right mind would advocate racism but for God's sake where will it all end. It is plain ridiculous when it comes to not using the word black to describe things that are that colour in case it offends. I would think it is more offencive to insult their intelligence not to be able to tell the difference between a statement and a racist remark

Answer 9

Well.....BAA BAA IS a BLACK SHEEP NOW.!!!!! British Airport Authority (BAA) wants to demolish three villages for the third runway at Heathrow so it is certainly a Black Sheep now!!
Everyone who lives in these villages dislikes them intensely politically correct or not. lol

Answer 10

Yes society has gone mad - one local nursery sing baa baa rainbow sheep we are so busy not offending others we don't have time for fun any more

Answer 11

Did all your words get scrambled up somehow? It is basically unintelligible. But I've done my best to decipher—
Now I do see the part about refuse sacks / bin liners; in general I'm in favor of describing items with descriptive adjectives & nouns & not colloquial terms. So I think something like "refuse sack" is indeed a better idea. Where I'm from a “black bag” is a type of purse that women use for evening wear. But in other places I've heard “black bag” used as a pejorative term for older somewhat overweight black women. For real.

I didn't know what a “gollywog” was, but checked out Wilkipedia & found the following: "The Golliwogg (later golliwog) is a rag doll-like, children's literary character created by Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century. The Golliwogg was inspired by a blackface minstrel doll Upton had as a child in America. Historically very popular in Europe, the doll has become the subject of a great deal of controversy — particularly with ever-increasing ethnic diversity of the resident European population — over whether it should be preserved and passed on as a cherished cultural artifact and childhood tradition, or retired as a relic of an earlier time when anti-black racism was as casual as it was blatant."

Yes, I know what you mean, it's sort of frustrating. I have a similar thing, an antique-vintage children’s book called "The Tale of Bingo" by Tom Lamb. This is an adorable book, first edition, illustrated plates in color, with a delightful story, cute happy little monkey running having fun adventures around protected by an ancient magic good luck charm signifies wisdom symbol known as a “swastika.” As we all know, the swastika was usurped by the Nazis during the so-called Third Reich. Thus, this book is nearly extinct as most copies were destroyed post WWII.

I look at it as it is even more of a collector's item, appreciate it for what it was intended to be, keep it out of direct sunlight & dust exposure, take good care of it, and think in a few decades it will auction to a collector for a lot. Or pass down to my heirs.

As far as the nursery rhyme, I'm not aware of there being any controversy. I went & checked around a little, & reviewed the lyrics at www.rhymes.org.uk/baa_baa_black_sheep.htm:

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

“The History and Origins of Baa Baa Black Sheep Nursery Rhyme”
“The wool industry was critical to the country's economy from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century so it is therefore not surprising that it is celebrated in the Baa Baa Black Sheep Nursery Rhyme. An historical connection for this rhyme has been suggested - a political satire said to refer to the Plantagenet King Richard III (the Master) and the export tax imposed in Britain in 1275 in which the English Customs Statute authorized the king to collect a tax on all exports of wool in every port in the country. But our further research indicates another possible connection of this Nursery rhyme to English history relating to King Edward II (1307-1327). The best wool in Europe was produced in England but the cloth workers from Flanders, Bruges and Lille were better skilled in the complex finishing trades such as dying and fulling (cleansing, shrinking, and thickening the cloth). King Edward II encouraged Flemish weavers and cloth dyers to improve the quality of the final English products.”
“Words and Music”
“The earliest publication date for the "Baa, baa black sheep" rhyme or poem is dated 1744. Music was first published for "Baa, baa black sheep" was in the early nineteenth century making it into a song for children."

Not much there. I tried searching for the rhyme & the term “controversy,” and there is some blog blathering on about it, couldn't make heads or tails mid discussion & gave up.

Maybe the association of "master" in there? Or maybe just someone that is overly sensitive? Perhaps someone that was taunted on the playground derisively with that rhyme as a child?

If you are part of the dominant culture that does not experience the pejorative way these words are used & misused, it may be hard to understand how hurtful it can be.

I will suggest that if you don't understand, then just try to be grateful that you don't--that means you've probably not had to endure what others have.

And be glad you have the cool gollywogs. Enjoy what you have & what they mean to you. In a few decades they too will go for a lot at an auction. Or pass down to your heirs.