# So....will playing "Dixie" be deemed racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921 "2017-08-17T23:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/21 "2017-08-18T05:03:39Z")
And let’s not even get started with “Blue Tail Fly”. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/22 "2017-08-18T10:23:55Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > “Dixie” was played at both the 1861 inauguaration of Lincoln and of CSA President Davis. Not that it means anything. Civil war hadn’t started yet for Lincoln’s - playing the tune then could be seen as an attempt at unity. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/23 "2017-08-18T10:35:34Z")
I was thinking I read a thread about a doorbell that played Dixie here recently, then realized that it was at [this](http://www.askamanager.org/2017/06/office-doorbell-plays-dixieland-company-forces-clients-to-write-online-reviews-and-more.html) site. (Read the comments.) Bo and Luke just can’t catch a break. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/24 "2017-08-18T10:54:31Z")
Double post/browser hiccup. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/25 "2017-08-18T11:49:43Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > They were just individual people and not groups, but Jesse Helms [did this 24 years ago](http://articles.latimes.com/1993-08-06/news/mn-20952_1_carol-moseley-braun): Carol wasn’t a great senator, but she woulda punched him. > [@hogarth](#): > > The tune by itself might not be racist, but singing about “de land ob cotton” is pretty racist. > > On a related note, the song “Golden Slippers” was used as the tune for the cereal Golden Grahams. I didn’t think anything of it until I was at a friend’s house and they had a piano book with sheet music and lyrics for various tunes. > > \*Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers! > Golden slippers I’m gwine to wear, bekase dey look so neat; > Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers! > Golden slippers Ise gwine to wear, to walk de golden street. > \* > Ugh. A simple shift from “Negro dialect” to English turns it into a song about getting dressed for going to Heaven. It was written by African-American songwriter James A Bland, who also wrote “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” the former state song of Virginia and which was also controversial. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/26 "2017-08-18T11:57:57Z")
As I often say, context is key. Playing it to celebrate the “Lost Cause”? Rude, crude and deserving to be shouted down. Playing it as a sample of what was the music of that age and place? Fine with me. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Since you bring up Lost Cause…I want to say this close-fisted approach we’ve seen recently of “Eff you traitors, you lost. Deal with it cause its ALL coming down!” is anti-ethical to what Lincoln wanted isn’t it? Letting them have their “Lost Cause” myth just allowed the _“we did nothing wrong, we had a right to keep doing things the way we were, and we would have gotten away with it except for ye meddlin’ Yankees”_ attitude fester and ferment and strengthen, and get repeated again during desegregation, and again now in the face of American culture evolving further. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/27 "2017-08-18T12:02:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I mean: “I wish I was in the land of cotton”? It’s glorifying slavery in the very first line. I won’t deny the song is problematic but I disagree that that line is “glorifying slavery”. To me it’s just a longing to go back to the land of the singers upbringing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/28 "2017-08-18T12:10:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_(song)) gives 1861. It gives 1861 as the date it was “adopted” as the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy. The song itself was written some time in the 1850s. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/29 "2017-08-18T12:23:05Z")
Because more people should read it > [@What should we do with confederate monuments and statues?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/267): > > The NY Review of Books has ungated this great McPherson essay:[Southern Comfort](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2001/04/12/southern-comfort/). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/30 "2017-08-18T12:28:26Z")
There was a version of “Dixie” popular among Union troops during the Civil War: - Away down South in the land of traitors, Rattlesnakes and alligators, Right away, come away, right away, come away. Where cotton’s king and men are chattels, Union boys will win the battles, Right away, come away, right away, come away. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/31 "2017-08-18T13:42:49Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Someone in the YouTube thread for ‘‘High Cotton’’ who has a Confederate flag as their icon said, ‘‘I want to go back to the South of the 1950’s.’’ > > I’m sure you do. Ugh. Ugly, open racism AND no air-conditioning. No. (I kid. I couldn’t take racism even with a/c; 2 our of my 3 closest longtime friends from college back home in NE Florida are technically non-white. Ridiculous.) **Lord Feldon** – as if we needed more proof that Jesse Helms is a giant ass. Also, the notion that a black woman would cry because he sang Dixie demonstrates how much he doesn’t understand casual racism. I’m sure she coped with far worse without crying. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/32 "2017-08-18T15:49:40Z")
Am I the only one who has had ‘‘Dixie’’ permanently stuck in my head since this thread was opened? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/33 "2017-08-18T16:37:56Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > So does, “My Old Kentucky Home”, and yet, the [classical presentation is racist as fuck](https://youtu.be/voBcDtXIMvA). The first thing that comes to mind when I hear that song mentioned is [this old Bugs Bunny cartoon](https://youtu.be/iMZfCar-Ks8?t=1m17s), which for obvious reasons I haven’t seen aired in many years. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/34 "2017-08-18T17:09:51Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Lets get ahead of the curve then. I predict certain right wing groups will start playing it just to aggravate other groups. Unless THAT has already happened too. If you’re willing to call pro-slavery, later pro-Confederate groups ‘right wing’ (not sure how well left-right fits into 19th century US politics), it started happening before the Civil War. It’s not exactly ‘ahead of the curve’ to predict something that happened so long ago all of the people who did it are dead of old age 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/35 "2017-08-18T17:22:10Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > So does, “My Old Kentucky Home”, and yet, the [classical presentation is racist as fuck](https://youtu.be/voBcDtXIMvA). I was recently looking for words and chords to MOKyH to bring to a jam on Derby Day. Turned out we owned a book of Stephen Foster music. Yeah, the lyrics had to be cleaned up considerably. Going through the book I was struck by 2 things: 1. the guy sure wrote a ton of songs that had become widely known “Americana”; and 2. an impressive percentage of his work contained language which many today would consider offensive. Funny - we frequently play Golden Slippers. I never heard of a racist connotation, only religious. Which I find surprising, because given the folk I regularly jam with, I would have expected someone to at some time comment on any racist origins. A quick google informs me that my group has played the original “Golden Slippers” as well, tho not nearly as frequently as the later parody. I’ll ask around at tomorrow’s jam. With several oldtime tunes we play, there are discussions of whether they originally had racist lyrics, or whether pre-existing tunes were adapted at some point to include offensive lyrics. Can’t think of an example off the top of my head, but it is not at all unusual for some one at some time to have adapted racist lyrics for an earlier tune. As far as the bluegrass and oldtime music I play, there seem to be many more lyrics involving misogyny than racism. ---
**Author:** ![Pippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pippers)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/36 "2017-08-18T17:23:33Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > The first thing that comes to mind when I hear that song mentioned is [this old Bugs Bunny cartoon](https://youtu.be/iMZfCar-Ks8?t=1m17s), which for obvious reasons I haven’t seen aired in many years. Man I loved Bugs Bunny. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/37 "2017-08-18T17:24:00Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Since you bring up Lost Cause…I want to say this close-fisted approach we’ve seen recently of “Eff you traitors, you lost. Deal with it cause its ALL coming down!” is anti-ethical to what Lincoln wanted isn’t it? Dude, we just had an instance where white supremacists protecting a statue fucking killed people. If it had just been a regular white supremacist march in favor of statues glorifying white supremacy, then it would have been page 7 news. With the terrorist attack people aren’t in such a mood to give white supremacy a pass, you know? So your statutes that were put up to celebrate white supremacy now have a much greater chance of being removed after all this. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/38 "2017-08-18T17:30:22Z")
My dog’s name is Dixie. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/39 "2017-08-18T17:36:55Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Since you bring up Lost Cause…I want to say this close-fisted approach we’ve seen recently of “Eff you traitors, you lost. Deal with it cause its ALL coming down!” is anti-ethical to what Lincoln wanted isn’t it? What Lincoln and later integrationalists wanted was for the South to not be held accountable for reparations fostering future resentment. They did not want a celebration of the brutal carnage that had just taken place in the form of public statues and memorabilia. Most of the celebratory “Confederate” statues, flags, and other celebratory artifacts in the South today do not date from the Civil War era but rather from the resurgence of violence against blacks in the 1890s and 1920s (the latter coinciding with the rise of the revived Ku Klux Klan), and as has been previously noted, the supposed Southern Cross 'Confederate flag" from manipulations of the North Virginian Army battle flag was popularized as such in the 1960s and 1970s. The American Civil War is not an event we should conceal and deny, but it should be associated with human slavery and repression of non-landholders as an artifact of our checkered history as a nation, not as a celebration of regional pride. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921/40 "2017-08-18T17:48:20Z")
There’s a school next to where I live that plays a bit of “Dixie” as a school bell. It annoys me a lot, but I don’t know how many people here in Quebec/Canada know about the song’s history. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-playing-dixie-be-deemed-racist/793921.md?page=3)