Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo: Racist Nursery Rhymes You Didn’t Know You Were Learning

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Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me

Ever wonder why the lyrics to this nursery rhyme don’t make a lot of sense? Because teachers were forced to whitewash the lyrics after integration. This is a song about a lazy slave who’s trying to sleep on the “job” but a fly is keeping him awake:

Shew! fly, don’t bother me,

Shew! fly, don’t bother me,

Shew! fly, don’t bother me,

I belong to Comp’ny G.

I feel, I feel, I feel,

That’s what my mother said,

Whenever this nigger goes to sleep,

He must cover up his head.

If I sleep in the sun this nigger knows,

If I sleep in the sun this nigger knows,

If I sleep in the sun this nigger knows,

A fly come sting him on the nose.

And back in 2012, parents were still fighting to keep it out of schools.

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