A shocked parent walked out of a school choir concert in a Lucas County, Ohio, school after students sang an American folk song about picking cotton. Critics of the school’s decision to sing the song would later air their grievances on social media.
Some parents at an Ohio middle school have said they were shocked to hear an eighth-grade choir sing about picking cotton just days after other students in the district took photos and videos of themselves with a Confederate flag outside the high school.
The Blade reports “Cotton Needs Pickin'” was performed Thursday during a fall concert at Springfield Middle School in Lucas County. Parent Nicole Maulsby, who is Cuban, posted a video of the performance on Facebook. Her husband, Alonzo, who is black, left the auditorium during the song, she said.
Maulsby and some online commenters contend that a song about workers happily picking cotton is a racist reference to black slaves toiling in the fields of the South.
The song originated from a book of American folk music, Springfield Schools Superintendent Matt Geha said. He added that he hadn’t received any calls Friday but knew of the social media complaints.
“I know that timing can sound bad, but it’s a historical component for what the choir department had to use for their curriculum,” Geha said.
The short song includes the lyrics: “Cotton needs pickin’ so bad, we’re going’na pick all over this field.”
Maulsby told The Blade the performance came “a little bit too close” to when a racial slur was “being used directly across the street in the parking lot.”
The month prior to the performance of the controversial song, about a dozen male students affiliated with a Christian youth organization called Young Life recorded themselves with a Confederate flag during what has been described as a rally. Some images of the rally posted on Snapchat reportedly included racial slurs.
Listen to the controversial song below:
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