I've got mixed feelings about Mr. Ginell's letter. Ideally, I wouldn't want to ban the song because I agree that kids ought to be taught more about the origins and context of it (about almost everything, really). The best way to take any sting out of something like that is to put it in perspective.

On the other hand, we all seem to agree that nobody bothered to do that (and, since it's not included in standardized testing, they aren't likely to remedy that failure). I have to admit I find it particularly offensive that the school is in a mostly white, Northern city that had nothing to do with the cotton trade in the first place, and had not given much thought to the meaning of the song beyond its face value.

So, as sick as I am of everything being PC-fied, I'm also sick of people appropriating cultural material without any regard for, or apparent interest in, its origins and more intimate meanings. Yes, there were plenty of white people who picked cotton--I hear that Tammy Wynette kept a bowl of it in her house to remind herself of how far she had come--but the song is African-American. Old stereotypes die pretty hard.

I have to admit I get a annoyed when the occasional Western movie or TV episode features Quaker characters and always seems to depict them either as cowards (male) or intolerable prudes (female) because we are pacifists and traditionally wear plain clothes, without incorporating any meaningful aspect of our beliefs.