Baaa Baaa Rainbow Sheep
Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:24 pm
This is one of the funniest damned things I've read in days!!! What the hell is wrong with people????
The Times March 07, 2006
Why black sheep are barred and Humpty can't be cracked
By Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
TRADITIONAL nursery rhymes are being rewritten at nursery schools to avoid causing offence to children.
Instead of singing “Baa baa, black sheep” as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing “Baa baa, rainbow sheep”.
The move, which critics will seize on as an example of political correctness, was made after the nurseries decided to re-evaluate their approach to equal opportunities.
Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Centre in Abingdon and the Sure Start centre in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, told the local Courier Journal newspaper: “We have taken the equal opportunities approach to everything we do.
“This is fairly standard across nurseries. We are following stringent equal opportunities rules. No one should feel pointed out because of their race, gender or anything else.”
In keeping with the new approach, teachers at the nurseries have reportedly also changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty so as not to upset the children and dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of Snow White.
A spokesman for Ofsted, the watchdog which inspects Sure Start centres, confirmed that centres are expected to “have regard to anti-discrimination good practice” and that staff should “actively promote equality of opportunity”.
Gervase Duffield, a Conservative district councillor representing Sutton Courtenay and Appleford, denounced the ban as ridiculous.
“It’s the sort of thing that people continually do nowadays — it’s become something of a curse,” he said. “Why do people waste time and money doing this sort of thing when there are far more important things to think about when it comes to educating our children?”
A mother whose daughter attends the Sure Start nursery at the Family Centre in Abingdon, who did not want to be named, said parents had been astonished by the change.
“Baa Baa, Black Sheep has been one of the most well-known nursery rhymes for generations. For people to come along and fiddle with it is ridiculous. What on earth is a rainbow sheep anyway?
“I’ve spoken to other parents about it and none of us has ever heard of anyone getting offended by the words ‘black sheep’.”
This is not the first time, however, that the nursery rhyme — written in 1744 satirising the taxes imposed on wool exports — has fallen foul of political correctness. In 2000 Birmingham City Council tried to ban the rhyme, after claiming that it was racist and portrayed negative stereotypes. The council rescinded the ban after black parents said it was ludicrous.
Last year, a nursery school in Aberdeen caused uproar, when teachers changed the lyrics to “Baa baa, happy sheep”.
Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teachers Association, said: “It’s really sad. Children for generations have loved and enjoyed nursery rhymes and it’s very sad if adult political correctness doesn’t allow them to grow up in an unbiased world.”
A DfES spokesperson said: “We don’t support this approach to the teaching of traditional nursery rhymes, but any such decision would be taken locally.”
The Times March 07, 2006
Why black sheep are barred and Humpty can't be cracked
By Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
TRADITIONAL nursery rhymes are being rewritten at nursery schools to avoid causing offence to children.
Instead of singing “Baa baa, black sheep” as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing “Baa baa, rainbow sheep”.
The move, which critics will seize on as an example of political correctness, was made after the nurseries decided to re-evaluate their approach to equal opportunities.
Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Centre in Abingdon and the Sure Start centre in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, told the local Courier Journal newspaper: “We have taken the equal opportunities approach to everything we do.
“This is fairly standard across nurseries. We are following stringent equal opportunities rules. No one should feel pointed out because of their race, gender or anything else.”
In keeping with the new approach, teachers at the nurseries have reportedly also changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty so as not to upset the children and dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of Snow White.
A spokesman for Ofsted, the watchdog which inspects Sure Start centres, confirmed that centres are expected to “have regard to anti-discrimination good practice” and that staff should “actively promote equality of opportunity”.
Gervase Duffield, a Conservative district councillor representing Sutton Courtenay and Appleford, denounced the ban as ridiculous.
“It’s the sort of thing that people continually do nowadays — it’s become something of a curse,” he said. “Why do people waste time and money doing this sort of thing when there are far more important things to think about when it comes to educating our children?”
A mother whose daughter attends the Sure Start nursery at the Family Centre in Abingdon, who did not want to be named, said parents had been astonished by the change.
“Baa Baa, Black Sheep has been one of the most well-known nursery rhymes for generations. For people to come along and fiddle with it is ridiculous. What on earth is a rainbow sheep anyway?
“I’ve spoken to other parents about it and none of us has ever heard of anyone getting offended by the words ‘black sheep’.”
This is not the first time, however, that the nursery rhyme — written in 1744 satirising the taxes imposed on wool exports — has fallen foul of political correctness. In 2000 Birmingham City Council tried to ban the rhyme, after claiming that it was racist and portrayed negative stereotypes. The council rescinded the ban after black parents said it was ludicrous.
Last year, a nursery school in Aberdeen caused uproar, when teachers changed the lyrics to “Baa baa, happy sheep”.
Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teachers Association, said: “It’s really sad. Children for generations have loved and enjoyed nursery rhymes and it’s very sad if adult political correctness doesn’t allow them to grow up in an unbiased world.”
A DfES spokesperson said: “We don’t support this approach to the teaching of traditional nursery rhymes, but any such decision would be taken locally.”
Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:34 pm
The way people think, especially these idiots who think that certain things should be changed because they are apparently racist, is absolutely ridiculous.
If anything, it will incite racism but these morons that come up with these crazy ideas dont realise that.
If anything, it will incite racism but these morons that come up with these crazy ideas dont realise that.
Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:00 am
They dropped the seven dwarfs from Snow White. I'm surprised some pc activist hasn't insisted they drop Snow White altogether, since it promotes white supremacy. 
Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:51 am
forget white supremacy complaints about sw...i'm waiting to hear the midget activists.
disney's song of the south is banned in the united states. though you might have heard of something called...splash mountain. no uncle remus or the tar baby, though.
interestingly, in the ride, brer rabbit is caught/tied up in ropes, rather than caught in the tar baby trick.
yeah...song of the south is so bad. uncle remus is a NICE black guy who likes to tell stories to little white children who are his friends...and it's somehow bad because it paints a disnified rosy picture of plantation life. well, what do you expect for the adaption of an african folktale by disney. be glad walt did the african folktale of brer rabbit, in between many of the obviously european fairytales. the tar baby is part of the story. get over it. roy disney is one of the people who is against the ban.
speaking of which...some native americans are working on trying to get peter pan banned or to have the "what makes the red man red" song removed. tough luck. everybody knows it. one of peter pan's few older audience nods (besides tinkerbell's jealousy and hip measuring) is the scene where peter's face turns red from getting his face rubbed by tigerlily, which sets up the split between peter and wendy for captain hook. you take out that song, and imo, a lot doesn't make sense. oh, and of course, not only are the indians red...one of the songs has "we're off to fight the injuns, the injuns, the injuns..."
wasn't there a lot of whining awhile back about trying to remove huckleberry finn from libraries? indeed, jim is...a less than bright character (that's an understatement--though his iq and many of the other characters' are absolutely historically correct)...but the overall message is HELPFUL! to different races.
disney's song of the south is banned in the united states. though you might have heard of something called...splash mountain. no uncle remus or the tar baby, though.
interestingly, in the ride, brer rabbit is caught/tied up in ropes, rather than caught in the tar baby trick.
yeah...song of the south is so bad. uncle remus is a NICE black guy who likes to tell stories to little white children who are his friends...and it's somehow bad because it paints a disnified rosy picture of plantation life. well, what do you expect for the adaption of an african folktale by disney. be glad walt did the african folktale of brer rabbit, in between many of the obviously european fairytales. the tar baby is part of the story. get over it. roy disney is one of the people who is against the ban.
speaking of which...some native americans are working on trying to get peter pan banned or to have the "what makes the red man red" song removed.
tough luck. everybody knows it. one of peter pan's few older audience nods (besides tinkerbell's jealousy and hip measuring) is the scene where peter's face turns red from getting his face rubbed by tigerlily, which sets up the split between peter and wendy for captain hook. you take out that song, and imo, a lot doesn't make sense. oh, and of course, not only are the indians red...one of the songs has "we're off to fight the injuns, the injuns, the injuns..."
wasn't there a lot of whining awhile back about trying to remove huckleberry finn from libraries? indeed, jim is...a less than bright character (that's an understatement--though his iq and many of the other characters' are absolutely historically correct)...but the overall message is HELPFUL! to different races.
Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:28 am
Pete Dube wrote:They dropped the seven dwarfs from Snow White. I'm surprised some pc activist hasn't insisted they drop Snow White altogether, since it promotes white supremacy.
They will when they finally realize that this young, unmarried woman is living with seven little men.
Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:59 am
Sean Ryan wrote:If anything, it will incite racism but these morons that come up with these crazy ideas dont realise that.
Bingo!! It's this bullsh*t that plants the seed.
Why not change the complete song???
Baa, baa, black (racist) sheep (offensive to other farm animals),
Have you any wool (what about leather or other natural materials)?
Yes sir (what about Miss? Equal rights!) , yes sir (no need to repeat it),
Three bags full (ofensive to half full bags).
One for the master (again, men before women),
One for the dame (2nd class citizens),
And one for the little boy (should be child)
Who lives down the lane (what about the homeless??).
Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:07 pm
Elvis' Babe wrote:forget white supremacy complaints about sw...i'm waiting to hear the midget activists.
There are already a myriad of racial complaints against Star Wars. All absurd -- but all levelled with considerably widespread passion.
Elvis' Babe wrote:disney's song of the south is banned in the united states. though you might have heard of something called...splash mountain. no uncle remus or the tar baby, though.
interestingly, in the ride, brer rabbit is caught/tied up in ropes, rather than caught in the tar baby trick.
yeah...song of the south is so bad. uncle remus is a NICE black guy who likes to tell stories to little white children who are his friends...and it's somehow bad because it paints a disnified rosy picture of plantation life. well, what do you expect for the adaption of an african folktale by disney. be glad walt did the african folktale of brer rabbit, in between many of the obviously european fairytales. the tar baby is part of the story. get over it. roy disney is one of the people who is against the ban.
Although smaller in the grand scheme of things, Disney made some small alterations to "Fantasia", airbrushing/panning/zooming away from a racially divisory moment or two where animals/magical creatures, supposedly representing actual people, were visually portrayed in master/slave terms. Not only is this detrimental to the original artistry and craftmanship of the film -- but it is a rewriting/mythologising of history (a very slippery path).
How did Charlton Heston put it? "Political correctness is tyranny with manners".
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