US-academics-hit-England-rugby-team

Professor Wright, a professor of Music and Black Studies at Wooster college in Ohio told the New York Times "Such cross cultural appropriations of slave songs betray a total lack of understanding of the historical context in which those songs were created by the American slave."

www.dailymail.co.uk... mics-hit-England-rugby-team.html

More madness, this time from the appropriately named Wooster college. P G Wodehouse would love it.

Some professors have lifted their snouts from the trough for long enough to grunt a complaint at what they call cultural appropriation.

A lady in a western suit decries cultural appropriation of a slave song by England fans. It's often sung alongside the Christian hymn Jerusalem at England rugby matches.

There was an official world cup version of the song years ago and I remember well people talking about how the song was an old slave song and how beautiful and hopeful it was.



It isn't sung in ignorance, not at all. It's not used to deride anyone, it's almost the perfect sports song, because when we watch our team all we can do is sing, and hope.

Tell you what, professor, come back to me when you are going to work in a field, wearing ostrich feathers and minding the Nkosi's cattle, then we can talk about cultural appropriation.

a reply to: SprocketUK

I'm Puzzled it is said

It was penned by Wallace Willis, the Black slave of a Choctaw Indian. Known as "Uncle Wallace," he was inspired to write this well-known American hymn by his current home near Oklahoma City. Willis was also a servant at Spencer Academy, a Choctaw boarding school for boys in Choctaw County.

On the day he wrote the hymn, Willis looked out over the cotton field he was tilling and gazed upon the Red River in the distance.

What culture was Willis living - he wrote in English, living in America, slave/servant of an America First Nation.

Not like it was a 1,000 year culture, now is it.


Wish all those that use English who are not born there would stop appropriating our language for their damn songs.

(((sigh)))

Really? Doesn't she have term papers or something to grade?

Cultural appropriation is such a great buzz phrase--you can make it mean so many things.

I practice origami, but I'm not Japanese...cultural appropriation. I'm horrible at it, but its fun.

I play Chess, originally from China...cultural appropriation.

To call this person misguided, and the ones who think like her, is about as nice as I care to be.

It's amazing the bigotry these people espouse while in the name of equality.

The American loony left can F off.

Keep your SJW to yourself

Even the most racist Brits consider the song a part of the nation, while it might of been born out of slavery its been adopted and enjoyed for years by rugby fans, obviously letting people know the history of the song which aint hard to know given its rhythm is one thing but i'm sure thousands of people giving a song about slavery full vocals reminds us all of what did happen and is better than not doing anything.

Academic; permanently offended, Ill-informed idiot.

Heaven forbid she try to do anything constructive here or make any kind of impactful change. Things are just so #ing perfect the proverbial "they" has moved on to complaining about a song that's sung during games in another country?

Amazing.

a reply to: SprocketUK
She doesn't understand that she's wasting her time.
Her writ does not run on the opposite side of the Atlantic. That song is so much part of the culture of English rugby fans that not even an Act of Parliament would succeed in suppressing it.
If they get to hear about her comments, she may find her name being incorporated into a few new songs, for use on the coach home. (hmm. Four syllables, emphasis on the last. That should scan easily enough)

a reply to: DISRAELI

That would be a fitting epitaph. Sung to the tune of the Archers theme.

Do they not understand they can try to demonise us as much as they like, we don't care, it's a hymn.

There is always someone, somewhere taking offence on behalf of someone, somewhere and people are sick of it.

They are always trying to place guilt upon the innocent, guilt for something that happened way before any living soul was even thought of.

Be damned if I am going to feel guilty for the sins of my forefathers. We know and understand that these abhorrent acts were awful, and the majority of us have learned from these past mistakes. It was a shameful part of history, but that's just it, history.

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.

It's not a bad thing at all that Rugby fans can sing this song, and still appreciate more if they do know its origins. After all, Most British themselves were government slaves to fight useless wars in most cases and land claiming and God knows what right up to the first world war, and it was only after that did things begin to change, and hopefully for the better.
Even now we are in an era where a form of slavery could still be real if we are not vigilant, there are still plenty of elitists around.
While perhaps many old schoolers still see Rugby as an elitist fan sport, I think that idea has gradually changed over the last century, perhaps more so during WW2 onwards, though I can perhaps see where this professor is coming from, but I think she is out of time. In fact it's Soccer that's coming more under the scrutiny nowadays as an elitist/racist sport, like the Northern Irish Chelsea Soccer fan, (a policeman in fact) who pushed a blackman off a tube in France, and wouldn't let him back on. Back home he was identified and paid dearly for that I am glad to say. There have been other incidents, an English Soccer fan pushed a Polish man onto the tracks at a tube station in London....and so on.
In fact I do know quite a few Soccer fans who have forsaken the game for Rugby because of this.

a reply to: SprocketUK

PEOPLE OF ENGLAND:
Please approach this in the same manner America's more sane citizens have chosen... namely, middle fingers in the air, mockery against the imbecilic asshats (who so frequently seem to stem from US academia... hmmmm), and otherwise totally ignore the children and their tantrums. If you show them much attention, ESPECIALLY if you provide them any measure of appeasement, they'll never learn, never grow up, and basically continue their lives wasting valuable air and breaking the silence surrounding issues that don't and shouldn't matter to anyone with an actual life.

Here is someone who actually knows what he's about:




Think what you will of it...

It's a very sad song.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
Please approach this in the same manner America's more sane citizens have chosen... namely, middle fingers in the air,

It is against the traditions of our culture to wave the middle finger at people.
We always wave TWO fingers- the first two held in a V-formation, palm facing inwards (not to be confused with Churchill's V-for-Victory sign, which was palm facing outwards- except when he forgot).

Maybe this song was written by a slave, but little kids in Oklahoma (of all colors!) have been singing this song in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School for as long as I can remember.

I can still remember all of the words and everything.

a reply to: SprocketUK

So sorrythe ignorance is spreading across the pond

At least a majority of our states do NOT support the madness.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Feel free to substitute gestures for whatever means "go screw yourself" in your culture when dealing with the snowflakes.

a reply to: seagull

How dare you appropriate it from India to China...hahaha

en.wikipedia.org...

The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1500 years, although the earliest origins are uncertain. The earliest predecessor of the game probably originated in India, before the 6th century AD; a minority of historians believe the game originated in China. From India, the game spread to Persia.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
a reply to: DISRAELI

Feel free to substitute gestures for whatever means "go screw yourself" in your culture when dealing with the snowflakes.

Back when we and The French weren't best of friends, they used to threaten to cut off the index and middle fingers of our bowmen. After Agincourt, the victorious bowmen taunted the French prisoners with this gesture.