Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision October 16, 2020
When I was growing up in New Jersey in the 1950s, the very worse thing you could call another Black person was "blackie". Being called "blackie" usually resulted in a fist fight. Sometimes the child hurling that taunt had the same skin complexion or a similar skin complexion as the child being taunted. In those days few Black people I knew wanted to be Black or wanted to be reminded that they were Black.
Latest revision October 16, 2020
When I was growing up in New Jersey in the 1950s, the very worse thing you could call another Black person was "blackie". Being called "blackie" usually resulted in a fist fight. Sometimes the child hurling that taunt had the same skin complexion or a similar skin complexion as the child being taunted. In those days few Black people I knew wanted to be Black or wanted to be reminded that they were Black.
Unfortunately, as I witnessed during the two years I worked as a substitute teacher in two predominately Black elementary schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the "Black is Beautiful movement" of the 1970s and 1980s in the United States doesn't appear to have changed this attitude all that much. Black kids still taunt other Black kids by calling them "blackie". And immigrant children from Somalia, East Africa - who were darker than most of the African American children, and who also wore outfits that were different than the norm - were the particular target of "blackie" racial slurs.
Taunts aren't the only place that putdowns of Black people by Black people occurred. Those in-racial putdowns also show up in children's playground rhymes where they are recited along with other words, with very little thought to their meaning.
In addition to telling adapted West African stories, I also enjoy collecting children's playground rhymes. So when an opportunity presents itself to do both, I'm really in my glory. Such an opportunity occurred one evening in January, 2011 when I was slated to present African folktales for young children whose women who were members of the historically Black Greek lettered sorority Zeta Phi Beta, Inc.. A nine year old girl arrived early to that event with her mother. While her mother helped set up the room, that little girl (who later told me her name was Naijah), spent some time on her small notebook computer. I couldn't resist the opportunity, and I approached her, introduced myself, and asked her if she would share with me some playground rhymes she knew.
It just so happened that two of the playground rhymes that Naijah shared with me included the line "Get your black hands off of me". Here are those examples (with those lines given in italics to highlight them)
ET FROM OUTER SPACE
ET
ET
ET from outer space.
He had an ugly face.
Sitting in a rocket.
Eating chocolate.
Watching soap operas
All day long.
A B C D E F G
Get your black hands off of me.
Now freeze!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
-snip-
This rhyme is part of the "Miss Sue From Alabama" family of rhymes.
Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name. She said that that "ABCDEFG" part is used in another rhyme which she later recited. See "I Am A First Grader" below.
I said to Naijah that I heard that "get your Black hands off of me line before in other rhymes and I wondered if if meant that people were ashamed of being Black. Naijah looked shocked and said "I enjoy my heritage".
**
I AM A PRETTY FIRST GRADER
I am a pretty __ first grader*
As pretty as can___ be be.
My boyfriend's name is__ Chris Brown**
He lives in Ala__bama.
One day when I was___walking
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world.
And this is what he said.
I K-I-S-S
I M-I-S-S miss you.
I L-O-V-E love you.
ABCDEFG
Get your black hands off of me.
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
The dash indicate one beat before the next word or the next syllable.
Editor: "I Am A Pretty First Grader" is a version of the playground rhyme "I Am A Pretty Little Dutch Girl". Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name.
*Naijah said "Girls say the grade they are in when they say this rhyme (like first grade or second grade or fifth grade)". Naijah also said that when she was in the second grade she forgot and said "I am a pretty first grader". And that's the words she used for this recitation of that rhyme.
**"Chris Brown" is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor. I think that besides his popularity, his last name "Brown" is the reason why he joins a long line in children's playground rhymes of other people or of characters whose last name is "Brown"-for instance "Buster Brown", "Charlie Brown", "James Brown", and probably others.
****
EXPLANATION GIVEN FOR "GET YOUR BLACK HANDS OFF OF ME"
***Naijah said "The reason why the woman said "Get your black hands off of me" in that rhyme is that she was mad at him because he was cheating on her. I found that explanation interesting as it showed that an attempt was made to explain that line within the context of that rhyme. However, it still seems to me that the emphasis on the color of the hands meant that their dark color was considered negatively.
-snip-
Notwithstanding Naijah's comment about enjoying her heritage (which she gave after my question about the "ET" rhyme and her explanation about the meaning of that line after the "I Am a First Grader" rhyme, I believe that the "Get your Black hands off of me" line in both of these rhymes shows that dark skin color is still considered a negative.
****
ADDENDUM
Here are two other hand clap rhymes that include the line "Get your Black hands off of me" (with that line written in italics to highlight it)
Zing Zing Zing
at the bottom of the sea.
I am a little __ second grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.
My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with cherry pie curls
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
1-2-3-4
Get your black hands off of me!
- Diarra, K'azsa, and Michelle, Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pa, 2004; collected by Azizi Powell, 2004
-snip-
The "___" indicates that chanters are to stop for one beat before continuing to recite the rhyme.
"cherry pie curls" probably means "red hair that is curly" [Note that the girls may have come up with this description because it's unlikely that they would have seen anyone with red hair (except any teachers) in their 99% Black elementary school.]
"1234" is usually given as "123" (which rhymes with the word "me".
**
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Taunts aren't the only place that putdowns of Black people by Black people occurred. Those in-racial putdowns also show up in children's playground rhymes where they are recited along with other words, with very little thought to their meaning.
In addition to telling adapted West African stories, I also enjoy collecting children's playground rhymes. So when an opportunity presents itself to do both, I'm really in my glory. Such an opportunity occurred one evening in January, 2011 when I was slated to present African folktales for young children whose women who were members of the historically Black Greek lettered sorority Zeta Phi Beta, Inc.. A nine year old girl arrived early to that event with her mother. While her mother helped set up the room, that little girl (who later told me her name was Naijah), spent some time on her small notebook computer. I couldn't resist the opportunity, and I approached her, introduced myself, and asked her if she would share with me some playground rhymes she knew.
It just so happened that two of the playground rhymes that Naijah shared with me included the line "Get your black hands off of me". Here are those examples (with those lines given in italics to highlight them)
ET FROM OUTER SPACE
ET
ET
ET from outer space.
He had an ugly face.
Sitting in a rocket.
Eating chocolate.
Watching soap operas
All day long.
A B C D E F G
Get your black hands off of me.
Now freeze!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
-snip-
This rhyme is part of the "Miss Sue From Alabama" family of rhymes.
Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name. She said that that "ABCDEFG" part is used in another rhyme which she later recited. See "I Am A First Grader" below.
I said to Naijah that I heard that "get your Black hands off of me line before in other rhymes and I wondered if if meant that people were ashamed of being Black. Naijah looked shocked and said "I enjoy my heritage".
**
I AM A PRETTY FIRST GRADER
I am a pretty __ first grader*
As pretty as can___ be be.
My boyfriend's name is__ Chris Brown**
He lives in Ala__bama.
One day when I was___walking
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
To the ugliest girl in the whole wide world.
And this is what he said.
I K-I-S-S
I M-I-S-S miss you.
I L-O-V-E love you.
ABCDEFG
Get your black hands off of me.
I K-I-S-S Kiss you!
-Naijah S.; (African American female, 9 years old; Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; January 14, 2011; Collected by Azizi Powell 1/14/2011
The dash indicate one beat before the next word or the next syllable.
Editor: "I Am A Pretty First Grader" is a version of the playground rhyme "I Am A Pretty Little Dutch Girl". Naijah recited this rhyme without my asking for it by name.
*Naijah said "Girls say the grade they are in when they say this rhyme (like first grade or second grade or fifth grade)". Naijah also said that when she was in the second grade she forgot and said "I am a pretty first grader". And that's the words she used for this recitation of that rhyme.
**"Chris Brown" is a currently popular young African American R&B singer and actor. I think that besides his popularity, his last name "Brown" is the reason why he joins a long line in children's playground rhymes of other people or of characters whose last name is "Brown"-for instance "Buster Brown", "Charlie Brown", "James Brown", and probably others.
****
EXPLANATION GIVEN FOR "GET YOUR BLACK HANDS OFF OF ME"
***Naijah said "The reason why the woman said "Get your black hands off of me" in that rhyme is that she was mad at him because he was cheating on her. I found that explanation interesting as it showed that an attempt was made to explain that line within the context of that rhyme. However, it still seems to me that the emphasis on the color of the hands meant that their dark color was considered negatively.
-snip-
Notwithstanding Naijah's comment about enjoying her heritage (which she gave after my question about the "ET" rhyme and her explanation about the meaning of that line after the "I Am a First Grader" rhyme, I believe that the "Get your Black hands off of me" line in both of these rhymes shows that dark skin color is still considered a negative.
****
ADDENDUM
Here are two other hand clap rhymes that include the line "Get your Black hands off of me" (with that line written in italics to highlight it)
Zing Zing Zing
at the bottom of the sea.
I am a little __ second grade
as pretty as can __ be be.
And all the boys around my house
go crazy over __ me me.
My boyfriend's name is __ Yellow.
He comes from Ala__bama
with 25 toes
and a pickle on his nose
and this is how the story goes.
One day I was ah __ walkin
I saw my boyfriend __ talking
to a very pretty girl
with cherry pie curls
And this is what she said
"I L-O-V-E __ love you."
"I K-I-S-S __ kiss you."
"I A-D-O-R-E __ adore you"
So S-T-O-P. STOP!
1-2-3-4
Get your black hands off of me!
- Diarra, K'azsa, and Michelle, Fort Pitt Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pa, 2004; collected by Azizi Powell, 2004
-snip-
The "___" indicates that chanters are to stop for one beat before continuing to recite the rhyme.
"cherry pie curls" probably means "red hair that is curly" [Note that the girls may have come up with this description because it's unlikely that they would have seen anyone with red hair (except any teachers) in their 99% Black elementary school.]
"1234" is usually given as "123" (which rhymes with the word "me".
**
this is a ecxample sea sea at the bottom of the sea Im a
little firts grader as pretty as can be be and all the boys aronud my block are
fighting over me me my boy friends name is jello he from alabama with 25 toes
and a pretty fat noes and this how my story goes one day I was walking I saw my
boy friend talking to the pretiest girl in the whole wide world and this what I
sayed to her see my pickie see my thumb see my fist you better run wait come
back you need a tik tak not one not two but the the whole six pack sorry to
mean but you some vasuline 123 get your black hands off me
-Unknown, October 16, 2020 (comment to http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/12/i-am-pretty-little-first-grader-variant.html )
-Unknown, October 16, 2020 (comment to http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/12/i-am-pretty-little-first-grader-variant.html )
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I was just researching the ET rhyme as i learned it in school from classmates. I learned a lot from this post. Eye opening
ReplyDeleteno one, I appreciate your comment.
DeleteThanks for sharing it.