When These Children Started Singing, Parents Began Walking Out Of The School… joe January 24, 2023 Uncategorized Some parents at an Ohio middle school are outraged after hearing an eighth-grade choir song. Parents 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. “Cotton Needs Pickin’” was performed Thursday during a fall concert at the Holland middle school, The Blade reported. Parent Nicole Maulsby, who is Cuban, posted a video of the performance online. Her husband, Alonzo, who is black, left the auditorium during the song, she said. Maulsby believes that the song was performed with racist intent. Because the song is about workers joyfully picking cotton, she felt the school was trying to send a message encouraging slavery in the South. And when people on Facebook watched the performance, they largely agree, feeling that the teachers were using the eighth-grade students to purvey a racist message and solidify white supremacy across the community. The short song includes the lyrics: “Cotton needs pickin’ so bad, we’re going’na pick all over this field.” The song originated from a book of American folk music, Springfield Schools Superintendent Matt Geha said. Geha denied that the song was performed with racist intent. 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. 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.” 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, the incident happened the month prior to the performance of the controversial song. Some images of the rally posted on Snapchat reportedly included racial slurs. Maulsby and some online commenters say a song about workers happily picking cotton is a racist reference to slaves toiling in the fields of the South. Watch the video below: Sources: AWM, The Blade Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ