Difference between revisions of "Jimmy Crack Corn"

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[[Category: Black Racism in Nursery Rhymes]]
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[[Category: Black-Targeted Racism in Nursery Rhymes]]

Latest revision as of 09:23, 15 March 2021

Jimmy Crack Corn

A folk song Jimmy Crack Corn or also known as Blue Tail Fly, previously became popular in the 1840s during the rise of blackface minstrelsy performed by the Virginia Minstrels. In the 1940s it was regained as a folk song and known as a children’s song.

Over the years, several versions appeared, including some idiomatic African American English. The song is about a black slave’s lament over the death of his white master due to a horse riding accident. [1]

Lyrics

When I was young I us’d to wait

On Massa and hand him de plate;

Pass down de bottle when he git dry,

And bresh away de blue tail fly.

Jim crack corn I don’t care,

Jim crack corn I don’t care,

Jim crack corn I don’t care,

Ole Massa gone away. [2]

OR

When I was young I us’d to wait

On the master and hand him his plate;

And Pass down the bottle when he got dry,

And brush away the blue tail fly.

refrain (repeated each verse):

Jimmy crack corn and I don’t care,

Jimmy crack corn and I don’t care,

Jimmy crack corn and I don’t care,

My master’s gone away. [3]

Controversy

Jimmy Crack Corn was popular in the 19th and has been terrorized black children over the years by its explicit references to slavery. This song sings happily about the “ole massa gone away.” The rhyme which was often used in black face minstrel shows, also performed in Negro dialect by white men in the blackface, according to Nel, back in the day. This may be one of the reasons racism still exists in America. [4]

The song tells about the slave whose owner just died. When singing the song, the slave was mourning over the loss, yet celebrating at the same time. The lyrics portray him as one who is uneducated and mentally inferior. [5]

References

  1. Jimmy Crack Corn. wikipedia.org. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  2. Taylor Europa, Mildred. Nine nursery rhymes you probably didn’t realize were racist. January 8, 2020. face2faceafrica.com. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  3. Did Not Know that the Following Nursery Rhymes had a Racial History. May 8, 2014. aspoonfulofsuga.wordpress.com. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  4. Ulen, Eisa Nefetari. 8 Children’s Nursery Rhymes That Are Actually Racist. September 30, 2020. rd.com. Retrieved January 22, 2021
  5. Taylor, Mildred Europa. Nine nursery rhymes you probably didn’t realize were racist. January 8, 2020. face2faceafrica.com. Retrieved January 22, 2021