# Indifference to the past shows ignorance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 8, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372 "2005-04-08T09:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pococat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d26b3c/32.png) [@pococat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pococat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/1 "2005-04-08T09:54:34Z")
I believe Cecil’s response to the thread `Who is Jimmy...' ) which pertains to the well know folk song "Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care") is rather ignorant, to say the least. To say `I don’t care, so sue me’ is to ignore our past roots, however small or insignificant. After all, it is out of the past that our future is carved. I cannot comment on the writer of this particular tune, but I can say that a similar song writer of the same genre and time period, Stephen Foster, was a great champion of freedom for African Americans and his lyrics were written in “tribute” and/or sympathy to their cause. He regularily attended camp meetings and freedom movements of the time. The writer of “Jim Crack Corn,” Daniel Emmett, may well have had the same intentions behind his song output. Just my two cents… Sincerely, pococat ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/2 "2005-04-08T12:50:44Z")
[ol] [li][Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a981030.html)[/li][li]_It’s a **joke.** _[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/3 "2005-04-08T12:58:31Z")
In addition, as you see later in Cecil’s original piece, “I don’t care” is a direct quotation from the song. (Though “so sue me” is not.) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/4 "2005-04-08T15:57:17Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > In addition, as you see later in Cecil’s original piece, “I don’t care” is a direct quotation from the song. (Though “so sue me” is not.) Do please note that Cecil goes on beyond the initial first sentence joke to cover the topic. The first time I heard that joke about that song was an old Smothers Brothers routine. Dick sings, “Jimmy crack corn, and I don’t care” and Tom sings, “I don’t care, I don’t care.” Dick turns to Tom and says, “That’s not the way the song goes!” and Tom says “I don’t care.” Anyway, **pococat** , welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board. When you start a thread, it’s helpful to the other readers if you provide a link to the Column you are talking about. Helps keep us on the same page, saves us searching time, etc. No biggie, it’s been provided for you, and you’ll know for next time. As I say, welcome! ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/5 "2005-04-08T16:24:28Z")
“Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?” “I think so, Brain, but if Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why does he keep doing it?” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/6 "2005-04-08T19:12:07Z")
From Tom Lerher’s _Folk Song Army_: “There are innocuous folk songs, But we regard them with scorn. The folks who sing 'em have no social concience. Why, they don’t even care if Jimmy crack corn…” ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indifference-to-the-past-shows-ignorance/298372/7 "2005-04-08T23:31:19Z")
I’m actually going to defend **pococat** here. I think s/he could have stated the case a bit more clearly, but I think the point isn’t really with the “I don’t care”, but with this: > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > “Jimmy Crack Corn,” published in 1846, is attributed to an outfit called the Virginia Minstrels. The Virginia Minstrels helped originate the blackface minstrel show, not one of your prime vehicles for abolitionist sentiment. The author of the song, though not definitely known, was probably a Virginia Minstrel named Daniel Emmett, a popular songwriter and musician whose best-known .¡¤f´gÂion was the southern anthem “Dixie” (1859). Like his contemporary Stephen Foster, Emmett was a northerner who wrote sentimental songs about the south in black dialect. So don’t go looking for any deep social message. To which **pococat** responds: > [@](#): > > Stephen Foster, was a great champion of freedom for African Americans and his lyrics were written in “tribute” and/or sympathy to their cause. He regularily attended camp meetings and freedom movements of the time. The writer of “Jim Crack Corn,” Daniel Emmett, may well have had the same intentions behind his song output. I’m not commenting on the validity of the argument, just saying I think the point of the OP may have been misunderstood.