“Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” Now Deemed Offensive

Published on March 23rd, 2006

Posted by KB in General

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.

One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Teachers at nursery schools in Oxfordshire, England, have asked children to change the words of ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ to ‘Baa, Baa, Rainbow Sheep’ to avoid the possibility of offending anyone.

The nursery rhyme dates back to the mid-1700s and is related to a tax imposed on wool by the king, which divided receipts equally between the local lord (the master), the church (the dame), and the farmer (the little boy). Black wool was apparently taxed at a lower rate than white wool.

Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Centre in Abingdon, England, and nearby Sure Start Centre in Sutton Courtenay told the Oxford Star that the nursery schools had changed the words of ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ in order to follow stringent equal opportunities rules. “No one should feel pointed out because of their race, their gender, or anything else,” he said.

Then there’s this little nugget:

In 2003, the Mothercare store chain here began selling cassette tapes and CDs featuring a new version of Humpty Dumpty in which there was a happy ending. The new version said that ‘Humpty Dumpty opened his eyes, falling down was such a surprise, Humpty Dumpty counted to 10, then Humpty Dumpty got up again.’

28 users responded in " “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” Now Deemed Offensive "

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# 1 Vince said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 8:19 am

I can see where this is going to end up going:

“The bible is broken, it had to be fixed…”

# 2 moss said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 8:37 am

Not much different from the agitprop campaign started in the last week to sanitize coverage of the Iraq War.

Let’s show GI’s helping schoolkids — which your average American is going to do anyway — instead of “collateral damage”. Another piece of crap PR neologism for dead civilians.

Neocons didn’t invent PC’ but, they surely have taken it over on the grand scale.

# 3 gquaglia said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 8:37 am

Political Correctness at its best. FYI PC agendas are often vigiously championed by former hippie liberal douches from the 60’s in the academic world. You the know the type, love everyone, smoke more pot, that sort of thing. Go to any University in the US and you can find enough PC to fill a stadium.

# 4 moss said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 8:41 am

Nice side-by-side contradition, gc. You’re pissed off about “love everyone” and I think killing civilians is disgusting.

Chuckle. Thanks for that sense of proportion.

# 5 Mike said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 9:00 am

What we need is more airline stewardesses in mini-skirts.

# 6 Hawkeye666 said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 9:23 am

Changing the words of “Eenie, meenie, minie, mo” makes sense. When I was a child it was not “catch a tiger by the toe.” This is rediculous. Though not so much as trying to compare hiding the horrors of war from the American public to over zealous political correctness in universities.

As for mini skirted stewardesses…

# 7 stalinvlad said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 9:53 am

Im with Mike on this one, and may I add no fat chicks?

# 8 guy said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 10:03 am

please tell me how to fight a war an not have any collateral damage…I got news for you would not happen even if there was a lib dem in office. now that being said we might not be at war if your boy flip flop Kerry would have won, but then again we may have been over run by terrorists as well so who knows….. bad things sometimes happen to good people that is a fact of life.

Are they over there trying to kill civilians no, but moss would have you believe that. ITS A WAR! that means that even people who are not fighting in it are going to die plain and simple. get over your hippie love peace crap. War is part of the world it always has been, always will be. Some times that is the only option. Talking only goes so far.

I am sick of this ohh we cant hurt or offend anyone liberal mantra. man when are we going to grow up here and realize that in order to take a stand on something you are going to have to offend someone. I guess that’s the difference, libs don’t have any principles to stand on they just do what ever they think will make the most people happy weather its right or not. GROW SOME BALLS!!

# 9 moss said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 10:10 am

Guy — even if you can’t grow any brains, read a history book, once in a great while.

Nothing new about deliberately attacking a civilian population in an attempt to win a war. In the modern era, it started with Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It carried forward through Coventry, Dresden, Hiroshima and others.

Just because the ignorant would love to believe our good ol’ boys couldn’t possibly be guilty of such practices, the JDAM programs get all the bucks in the world — and matching PR campaigns. Why not join the volunteers around the world trying to clean up leftovers like anti-personnel mines or unexploded cluster bombs?

That might take balls.

# 10 moss said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 10:19 am

The point, of course, is that PC is now almost exclusively the property of neo cons. Whether it’s collateral damage or Republikans whining to make certain Nine Inch Nails didn’t use a backdrop photo of Bush at the MTV awards — non-denial denials are as thoroughly in place as they were in the day of McCarthy or Nixon.

# 11 guy said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 10:24 am

Moss I am sure that they are over there aiming at civilians……..idiot……as I said civilian death is a product of war……..not the over all intent……our boys are not over just willy nilly killing unarmed civilians………in order to win a war there are going to be civilians that are killed that is the way that it goes .. all I have to say to is that if you mess with a bull and your going to get the horns……if japan was really worried about an A-bomb or civilian death they should have thought about what the repercussions might have been before they attacked us. Your actions have direct consequences. Once you libs realize that there is a need to hold people accountable for there actions the better off you will be

# 12 Me said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 10:39 am

PC is the most dangerous thing on the planet. Wars are trivial in comparison. I reserve the right offend anyone at any time over anything. If being offended offends them then I reserve the right to remove them from exsitence (inoffensively, of course).

I am complete offended at the concept of someone thinking I don’t have the right to offend them.

# 13 Hey Mac said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 10:58 am

How dare they belittle a rainbow, painting all colours with the same brush. Why is it so important to single out colours at all? They should remove all colours from nursery rhymes. They should remove all colours from the classroom!

“Baa, baa, sheep,
Have you any wool?

# 14 Mike said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 11:09 am

Hey Mac, that seriously screws up the meter of the song. Now I want to go kill something.

# 15 Mister Mustard said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 1:35 pm

>>but then again we may have been over run by terrorists as
>>well so who knows

If we ever DO get over run by terrorists, it will be because War Hero Bush turned Iraq, with its tinhorn dictator and squabbling factions, into an incubator for Al Qaeda, churning out more terrorists every day than Osama and his dialysis machine used to be able to in a year.

And all the Iraqis (those who are still alive) got to show for it was a civil war.

And calling John Kerry a FLIP-FLOPPER!!!!! HAW HAW HAW HAW! Compared to whom? The Flip-Flopper-In-Chief??????? HAW!

# 16 ECA said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 2:19 pm

Have fun,
Go read the Grim fairy tales, BEFORE we edited them…
Cinderella ISNT a nice story..
The princess and the Frog..
ALl have been Nutured

# 17 joshua said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 2:33 pm

this story…..you guys remember it…..the reason for the post? This story has turned out to be not as sensational as first glance made it out to be. The schools in question were private, for profit run nursury schools, not state run. And it was only a suggestion by the owners to try to make intolerance less a factor in the schools. Most of the schools run by the company did not go with what these 2 particular schools did, and in fact several of the other company run school heads thought it was a bit much.
PC is running amok, and it never ceases to amaze me that people put up with it. All you have to do is vote with your pocket book……don’t buy anything from companies that try to be everything to everybody.

I don’t think that we need to go out of our way to offend anyone. But at the same time, I think the *victim* mentality is becoming so pervasive that you can’t publicly say anything any more without offending someone or something.

Today I read that city of St. Paul employees were ordered to take down their easter bunny’s and eggs because that may offend non-christians. I read yesterday that a radio sports show host in St. Louis was fired on-air for a slip of the tongue, he was praising Condi Rice and her love of football and used the word *coon* instead of *coup* and was fired on-air for making a horrificly disparaging remark that offended blacks. What happened to fairness? The guy didn’t mean to say it, slap his wrist and accept his apology(which he gave instantly after saying the word as he realized he said the wrong word) and get on with life. After all, the most senior Democrat in the Senate was a KKK member for years, but no one holds that against him anymore.

And Moss…..one sided history is nice, but not correct. The Japanese weren’t sitting at home knitting stockings, they had been killing hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of Chinese, Filapino’s, and others prior to the H bomb. Al Quida wasn’t just killing military members, they were killing civilians, 3000 here, a couple hundred in Indonesia, a couple hundred more in Madrid, etc., etc……do you think we just decided to go kill civilians for the fun of it? Being anti-war is not a terrible thing, but being blind to reality is. What would you have us do when a terror group attacks civilians and kills 3000 innocent people in our country? Maybe I’m a war monger, and a bad christian, because I don’t believe we could turn the other cheek.
I agree with you that we didn’t need to go into Iraq, but we are there and we need to clean up our mess. I don’t condone everything that our troops do, if they killed civilians without provocation they should be held accountable, but civilian deaths in war is unavoidable, and thats just a fact.

# 18 J_my_ear said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 3:45 pm

PC is the steady decline of individual freedom, it’s so hypocritical that in our age we should be aware of every one’s heritage equally but never promote that anyone is different. Why can’t the teachers teach the students that: Black wool was worth less money because you could dye it, black sheep produce as much wool as white sheep, and both colors of sheep get molested by hillbillies. Sorry, “I meant People of the hills not necessarily named Billy.”

# 19 Bruce IV said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 4:16 pm

Umm … especially weird about this whole thing is that the black sheep actually applied to black SHEEP … I’d like to ask the PC people how black sheep can make anyone feel uncomfortable – and its teaching the little kids bad science besides – who’s ever heard of a rainbow sheep?!? What on earth does wool and taxes have to do with ethnicity? What’s next – Jack and Jill walked back down the hill? Or Jane and Jill? Or wait – they sent their personal robot slave up the hill for water because they didn’t believe in physical labor ….

# 20 moss said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 4:31 pm

Hi, joshua — Military History is a very much part of my life. Yes, Americans celebrated in the streets, here in the US on VJ Day. But, within a year or two it became pretty clear that Hiroshima [and to a lesser extent Nagasaki] were essentially civilian targets.

That’s what I was referring to up above. Nothing new about the “good guys” killing civilians for military reasons. I happen to think they’re wrong. I offer no forgiveness for Japanese atrocities during that war.

I recognize the courage required among Japanese veterans — even after all these years — to go back to China and help remove and dismantle WMD buried and left behind when they surrendered. Their government opposes such behavior!

# 21 Mr. Fusion said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 4:56 pm

Yes, you are very offensive !!!

Almost everyone here has missed the point. This not about a war in Iraq or killing civilians or 3000 dead. It is about a NURSERY RHYME. Most of the common nursery rhymes we hear today have some history to them, some so obscure that they have been lost in time.

Ring Around the Rosie is a rhyme about the black death.

London Bridge is Falling Down, is based on a true story about, yup, London Bridge falling down.

Humpty Dumpty is about a huge cannon that fell over after being hit by another cannon shot during the English Civil War.

Little Miss Muffet is based upon a true story of a little girl who’s father studied bugs in the 1600s.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary is about “Bloody Mary”, Queen of England who executed hundreds of people for continuing their Protestant faith. The silver bells and cockleshells were the instruments of torture used before their heads were lopped off.

And Baa Baa Black Sheep is about taxation.

The moral of the story is Bush wants to rewrite history.

# 22 gquaglia said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 5:36 pm

What?? Mr Fusion, what the fuck are talking about, Bush is trying to change history? I didn’t know he was responsible for changing the words to ba ba black sheep. Didn’t see that in the post. Liberals are more likely to impose PC than Conservatives.
I love how you Bush haters feel the need to insert him into every post as the cause of the problem.

# 23 Mr. Fusion said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 7:14 pm

gquaglia

That was just a dig at paul. If I was serious, then I would have called him King George the Worst and maybe quoted some of his actual re-writings or re-interpretations of history. It was just in fun.

# 24 joshua said, on March 23rd, 2006 at 8:00 pm

ok Mr. Fusion…..it may not have meant to be but that was great sarcasm.

# 25 PteroCat said, on March 24th, 2006 at 5:06 am

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Had scrambled eggs for breakfast again

# 26 Mister Mustard said, on March 24th, 2006 at 8:45 am

>>Liberals are more likely to impose PC than Conservatives.

You’re right. Liberals are more likely to call a short person “vertically challenged”, or to call Black people “African Americans” even if they’re from France or Spain.

What the neocons do is significantly more malignant than imposing political correctness standards — it’s LYING. Through their teeth. See the history of War Hero Bush’s involvement in Iraq for a shining example.

# 27 Me said, on March 24th, 2006 at 9:17 am

The real point of this story is that people who promote PC in any form are ready for graduation day at idiot school because they’ve become “complete”.

PC does nothing but dilute the language, it does not change ideas. 30 years ago you would call someone “retarded” to insult them. Now you can call them “special” to accomplish the same thing. The insult and the feeling behind it is the same. Those who think PC accomplishes anything useful are “special”.

# 28 BOB G said, on March 25th, 2006 at 12:49 am

Japan went from a nation cosantly at war with itys naibors for a thousand years. two realitvly small bombs got there minds right. We no longer have the balls to use the big guns. My dad always said never aim a gun unless you intend to use it

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