the kids from the uk that my daughter spent a month with in south africa chose to sing "swing low sweet chariot" as part of a performance for the s.a. kids. they said it was some kind of rugby anthem.

huh?

daughter came home safe on thursday and i am as happy as ever.

cool moms rule!

"This is what your ancestors sang when our ancestors enslaved them! Enjoy!"

Seriously. Super WTF.

On a similar topic... am I bad for buying "Aunt Jemima" pancake mix? It kind of hit me the other day as I posting a pic of it on here.

As I understand it the England rugby team choose to sing 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' as a English 'national anthem' due to England not really having a national anthem. Why they choose to sing that song I'm not entirely sure (since I'm led to believe it was a black spiritual hymn).

I also believe they gave up singing it but I'm not entirely sure since I boo noisely any English anthem and can't really hear what they are singing about.

Ok, well I guess it wouldn't be their ancestors, since most slaves stayed here after being freed. So, uh, ancestors' relatives.

i myself did not view it as an appropriate choice. i just thought i was missing some thing. it pissed my kid off too. she did not parrticipate in that number which apparently came with hand gestures.

it's so sad that despite the heavy connotations that song has for me, I still always think of that scene in Revenge of the Nerds

Not any worse than I was for eating at this place as a kid (though it probably makes my parents grand dragons of the highest order)...

No shit, I've told people about eating at those restaurants when I was a kid and they think I'm putting them on.

As if I could make up a place called Sambo's.

"Yeah, then we went to N's and got some new clothes"

They should have belted out "The S&M Man" instead.

Speaking of hooligans and football related sports, the owner of the Cleveland Browns purchased the Aston Villa FC today. Malcolm Glazer who owns the Tampa Bay Bucs already owns Man. U. I think it is pretty funny that American Football owners are buying up English Soccer teams.

never been to the place, but there was a place in Lincoln City, OR that was called Lil' Black Sambo's until maybe the early 80s. Then it was called Sambos (with the same picture of a little black kid) until the early 90s when it closed down.

We've still got this chain in B.C. (and, yep, the original connotations are shamefully what you'd suspect):

Sambo, for British audiences, means Dothead.

Sambo, for Spanish/Latino audiences, means a child with one indigenous and one African parent.

Thus, a sambo is a particular class of ethnicity/colour, not just any old darkness.

I used to have a Little Black Sambo book and liked it just fine as a kid.

And, I hate to say it, but I really didn't see the rascist things in in that got it banned. It was a cute story. Is it just being named Sambo that makes it wrong or calling him "black" Sambo?

They could have come back singing this Rugby Anthem :

Jesus Can't Play Rugby
(sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" a.k.a. "Glory, Glory Hallelujah")

Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause his dad'll fix the game,
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause his dad'll fix the game,
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause his dad'll fix the game
Jesus saves Jesus saves Jesus sa-ves.

Free Beer for all the ruggers,
Free Beer for all the ruggers,
Free Beer for all the ruggers,
Jesus saves Jesus saves Jesus sa-ves.

Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's got illegal head gear,
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's got illegal head gear,
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's got illegal head gear,
Jesus saves Jesus saves Jesus sa-ves.

Free Beer for all the ruggers,
Free Beer for all the ruggers,
Free Beer for all the ruggers,
Jesus saves Jesus saves Jesus sa-ves.

Other verses:
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's only got twelve men
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he can't support a hooker
Jesus can't play touch judge 'cause his arms point both ways
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's nailed to the cross
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's got holes in his feet
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's got some open wounds
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause he's got illegal toe cleats
Jesus can't play Rugby 'cause the ball goes through his hands

Last verse:
Jesus we're only kidding,
Jesus we're only kidding,
Jesus we're only kidding,
Jesus saves Jesus saves Jesus sa-ves.

I blame white urbanites (who were soon to be surburbanites, naturally) with trust-funds and/or profits from dealing pot/cocaine who, to mask their maleficence, pretend friendship with the brown people, and being on their side. So, they, the white people, took offense at "lil' black sambo" as an unhealthy and unrealistic portrayal of a inhabitant of the Dark Continent*, in order to curry favor with the minorities. Prolly just so they could get a better exchange for an ounce.

Yeah.



*for lil' black Sambo to be an African, tigers would have to exist on the African continent, in the wild... sadly, they don't

Completely unrelated, but this song always makes me think of the Airborne tapes my pops used to play for us, which went:
Glory, Glory What A Hell of a Way to Die
Glory, Glory What A Hell of a Way to Die
Glory, Glory What A Hell of a Way to Die
And He Ain't Gonna Jump No More!

my friend just told me about this tune. When I hear the song I always think of when fat bastard's brother sings the alternate version in American History X.

I think its in Band of Brothers, as well. There's also (to the tune of "Camptown Races"):
Your Son's comin home in a body bag, do-da, do-da
Your sone's comin home in a jello mold, o the do-da day.

I suppose it's better than this: