With thanks to Throwing Toasters:
Humpty Dumpty, sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty, had a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men,
Couldn’t get him a dime.
But I could.
Following hot on the heels of yesterday’s decision by a school in Canada to remove the word “gun” from the spelling list comes the story of a lawsuit filed against Southwest Airlines for a racist rhyme.
Apparently, in trying to get people to sit down, a flight attendant chanted: “Eenie meenie minie mo; pick a seat, we gotta go!” Unfortunately for the airline, the recipients of this cruel abuse were black. They are suing for discrimination, because the “original” version of the rhyme is “Eenie meenie minie mo; catch a nigger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go. Eenie meenie minie mo.”
Now, I won’t deny that there was a popular version of the rhyme that went that way in the American south. And if the flight attendant had used that version, I would say she should be tossed from the plane at 30,000 feet. But, good grief people, get a clue:
- She didn’t use that version. She claims she’d never even heard that version before.
- The more popular American version has always been “catch a tiger by the toe.”
- It’s not even the original version of the rhyme. The original English version is (perhaps) “Eena, meena, mona, mi; Pasca, lora, vora, vi; Eggs, butter, cheese, bread; Stick, stock, stone-dead.”
- Stop being so damned sensitive!
Here’s a copy of the original complaint, in case you’re interested. In it, the plaintiffs “worried that the comment would cause Fuller to have a seizure on the plane.”
[ via Sgt. Grump ]
That’s just stupid. I never even heard that version of that rhyme, only the tiger one. Which is sung every day by thousands or millions of American children.
Holy oversensitive Batman!
I’ve also only ever heard the “tiger” version.
I had heard the bad one, but only because my Dad was a redneck from Georgia. My Yankee from Maine Mom saw to it that he was properly smacked upside the head whenever he said crap like that.
But those of us with totally native Maine parents still managed to hear it (not from the parents, tho) ‘cuz even though we’re apparently near the Artic Circle, Maine has a sizable redneck quotient, I’m afraid… Actually remember hearing that in grade school, fer cripes sake. Silliness abounds, all around us, and apparently above as, as well.
Keep the original version. I have always used the nigger version and always will. I always correct anybody who uses the tiger version.
Consider yourself smacked upside the head.