The Hutchinson School Board Can Funzwump My Lubbisnut

The Associated Press reports that "A 102-year-old Hutchinson High School chant made up of apparent nonsense words was yanked after the school board deemed it potentially offensive."

Nonsense words? Offensive? "Superintendent Wynona Winn said that at least one phrase -- 'hoe potatoer' -- could be considered offensive….In a book about slave songs, she found terms from the chant: 'chicka,' 'rat trap,' 'bulligator' and a reference to slaves hoeing potatoes."

Not explained was why terms from slave songs should be considered objectionable in the first place. Then again, if an expert in archaic American expressions happened to be attending a Hutchinson game, I suppose you wouldn't want him to take things the wrong way.

[Via Fetus-X.]

Comments

[Paul Zrimsek]

This is the most frumberg thing I've heard in all my dreezle. The snioplers behind this glomplich should be vozened with extreme zodchabuk.

[Steve]

"...and I'm so glad our children could be here to hear this. Not only is it authentic frontier gibberish....."

Howard Johnson in "Blazing Saddles"

[Jim]

It's apparent we will never become a color blind society until people can talk about race without having a heart attack about it. It seems to me that 'slave songs' were probably written and sung by the slaves themselves, and as such puts them on par with other African American musical art forms such as Gospel, Blues, Jazz and Rap. Nobody would be offended just because you used words in a high school chant that came from a blues song. However the mere fact that it may have a connection to slavery (whether intended or not) results in an arbitrary ban without any discussion about the context or meaning. This is truly sad.

[Gary Gunnels]

Burying history, as opposed to examing it, creating hagiography out of it in other words, is not an uncommon feature of human societies or a monopoly of any particular ideology for that matter.

[Warren]

What gets me is, that nobody could have possibly been offended until they were told to be.

[md]

I'm wondering how many students at Hutchinson were African-American. Do you think the school board asked them if they cared if they erased their history?

[Mark S.]

Steve, "Reverrrend!"

[Brad S]

Okay, I would have to say officially that we have reached the end of the slippery slope of Political Correctness. It can't get any more ridiculous than this. Unintelligible babble is now being censored for fear of offending people. That is unreal.

[Steve]

Mark S.: "Let us now read from the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and..DUCK!"

[Kevin M.]

I'm outraged! I can't believe nobody has yet acknowledged how offensive this chant is to "hoes", as well. I guess we've found the last acceptable prejudice (part 56).

[Steve]

Oh, Kevin. Everyone knows middle age, conservative, white-collar white guys are the last acceptable prejudice.

[Evilcor]

That tears it. The invasion of Boy Bands was bad enough, but now we've clearly gone collectively insane.

[Anonymous]

aaah, 'member the days when we used to jokingly say things like "what's next...banning lawn darts?" "what's next...banning political ads?" "what's next...banning smoking?" "what's next...banning McDonald's?" "what's next banning SUV's?" Hyperbolous examples are getting harder and harder to cite.

[Brian]

I'm still waiting for someone to demand that we drop the letter N from our alphabet so that no one will ever again turn to jelly from hearing the phrase "N-word".