I learned it from a Harry Belafonte record and would like to see what he would think of this.

My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Davis, was white, from Louisiana and told us about growing up and picking cotton, herself. The big story was about the snake which crawled in her cotton sack one day.

As a grandmother of mixed-race children, I am sensitive. Some of my ancestors owned slaves. I think, if they choose to keep the song in the program, they could preface it with an educational bit and the kids would be the richer for it.