Tough one, GUEST. My grandmother used to sing "Mamie's Little Coal Black Rose" to me as a lullaby. She sang it as a beautiful sentiment - her baby is a beautiful rose. And I cherish the song, even have the original music sheets. Is it racist? Some would say "Yes" and I am careful where I sing it so as not to offend.

"The Yama Man" is another "scary" children's song and refers to the Asian symbol found mainly in Tibetan art. Is it racist? Not if you don't know what a Yama is. In the song it's just a big, scary monster. As the Chink-a-Boo is in Guest, Cindy's song.

I witnessed a very painful event when someone sang a similar song not realizing that a woman in the audience would be badly hurt. So do we sing the songs only in certain venues and only when we have explained the context? Or do we let the song die out from our memory? My own opinion is that these songs are part of our history and need to be preserved in their CONTEXT.

I haven't heard the term "Chink" in 40 years. And would not hear it without speaking up. In my childhood we recited:

Ching Ching Chinamen
Sittin' on a fence
Trying to make a dollar out fifteen cents.

Nasty little bit of racist ridicule of a foreigner trying to make sense of our money and appearing to be a cheat in the process. So does Azizi add this one to her collection of street rhymes or toss it out for content? And whose call is it?

Sorry for the thread drift. I hope Cindy doesn't take offense at this discussion. It is important. And I hope she has some other of her family's songs to share.
Mary