Please Let us Pick a Bale a Cotton

  

In our spring Keynote program, we are scheduled to sing a delightful medley of folk songs called American Folk Rhapsody. We have sung it many times in our spring concert through the years. It includes, among others, the folk song "Pick a Bale of Cotton" a classic song sung by southern slaves as they worked in the cotton fields.  As we started to rehearse it, our director announced that we would not be singing the "Pick a Bale a Cotton" part of the song.  We were going to skip it because we didn't want to offend anyone.  

Yes, it was a song sung by black slaves in the south as they did the work they were forced to do.  But not singing it does not change that blight on our American history.  Not singing it actually takes away their joy.  Singing songs like this helped them get through the hard work in the hot sun.  It gave them a little bit of joy in an otherwise almost unbearable situation.  Do we hate that situation? Oh, Absolutely.  It is abhorrent.  But we can't make it go away by ignoring that it happened.  Singing their songs helps us remember the horror and honors them for finding a way to get through it.  It gives us courage to face our own difficulties and find our own ways to cope- being inspired that maybe music might help us.

I am deeply saddened that we continue to cancel culture- trying to wipe clean a history that was anything but clean. 

American philosopher George Santayana wisely said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Let us remember.  Let us never forget.  Let us honor those who suffered by keeping alive their joy.  Let us sing their songs.