"Brown Girl in the Ring" - offensive? - Page 2

[Ziggysmama]

Originally Posted by Pam_and_Abigail

When I was little, my sister had a mini-pops tape with this song on it, but I always thought it was 'brown girl in the RAIN'

...until this thread.

when I was three, I remember feeling bad for the little girl stuck out in the rain and I wondered if she had an umbrella to keep her dry.

OMG ME TOO!!!!

[cjanelles]

Why would it be offensive to observe the fact that the girl is the ring is brown if, in fact, there is a brown girl in the ring?

Would it be a question of offense if the lyrics were "there's a white girl in the ring" or a peach girl or a pink girl or a tan girl or a blueishly-transparent girl in the ring...as would be the lyrics if they wrote the song about me...?

[Pyrodjm]

Originally Posted by cjanelles

Why would it be offensive to observe the fact that the girl is the ring is brown if, in fact, there is a brown girl in the ring?

Exactly. Brown is being used to describe that girl. If she were blonde or green-eyed and that was being used to describe her, I would not find that offensive either. There is nothing negative being implied by simply saying she is there.

[sevenkids]

I played when I was little, and my kids played it when they were little, and I'm teaching it to my granddaughter, too. It's an oooold ring game.

We play it like this, every one stands in a circle, except the one in the middle. The one in the middle skips around the circle, while the other clap hands and sing
"There's a brown girl in the ring, tra la la la la
{repeat 3X}
She's sweet like sugar and she's nice like plum"

Show me a motion
tra la la la la
{repeat 3x, while the one in the middle busts a dance move}
She's sweet like sugar and she's nice like plum!

Stand and choose your partner,
tra la la la la
{3x, while the one in the middle dances in front of and points to another child in the ring, sort of a challenge to bust a better move}

Then it's that child's turn to go to the middle, each child trying to outdo the other with crazy dance moves.

Boys play, too, and the lyrics change to "Brown BOY in the Ring" when it's a little boy in the middle.

[greeny]

I don't think this song is racist. I think there's a possibility that thinking it may be racist to refer to someone as brown, may be racist in itself though.

I was just asking.

[purplegirl]

Originally Posted by kmeyrick

I work in a school that is mostly minorities. The littlest ones have this quirk. They often refer to each other as "brown." "The brown lady left you a message." It surprises me. I know they don't like the term black because...well....black people have brown skin. So there must be a mistake.

No, the song is a traditional Jamaican song and it is one of pride, not ridicule, so it isn't racist.

Children tend to like to be very specific. So to them a person who is "black" but has brown skin is "the brown person".


I also don't think the title is offensive.

[roosmommy]

We love this song! I always sang in it my kindergarten class when I was teaching and after teaching the original words, we would change the song to make a verse about whoever was in our ring. For example: Tall boy or happy girl, etc... The kids had fun and learned nice ways to describe their friends.

[TortelliniMama]

When the Wiggles do this song in the video I've seen, the girl in the ring is wearing a brown shirt (and I think she's caucasian, AFAIR). For their show, it's like the way Jeff is called the purple Wiggle because he wears a purple shirt.

[Mommy2anangel]

I grew up playing and singing to that song, I grew up in the Caribbean, so no I don't find it offensive or rasist. It's a Caribbean oriented Caribbean cultural song, where most of the girls are brown skinned. So no, again, I don't think it's meant to offend or be racially discrimatory.

[ColoradoMama]

Originally Posted by skyastara

I don't think this song is racist. I think there's a possibility that thinking it may be racist to refer to someone as brown, may be racist in itself though.

During high school, one of my African American friends got sick of the term "black." She went off on someone (can't remember who now) and said, "Do I look black? I am not black! I am brown." From that point one, we weren't black and white, we were brown and beige. I think if you try, you can find something that will offend everyone.

[ColoradoMama]

Originally Posted by Pam_and_Abigail

When I was little, my sister had a mini-pops tape with this song on it, but I always thought it was 'brown girl in the RAIN'

...until this thread.

when I was three, I remember feeling bad for the little girl stuck out in the rain and I wondered if she had an umbrella to keep her dry.

: That's too funny!

[the_lissa]

Weird. This is playing on the wiggles dvd we're watching now.