My Comments About Whether The Phrase "African Booty" In The Children's Rhyme "Mailman Mailman" Is Racist

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides my comments about the inclusion of the term "African booty" in "Mailman Mailman" (do your duty) children's rhymes.

I wrote the first comment that is highlighted in this post yesterday (November 14, 2018) and published it in the discussion thread for a 2009 "Mailman Mailman" YouTube video. That comment was written in response to a 2017 comment from an African American blogger who wrote that she considered the "African booty" to be racist.

I wrote the second comment in response to comments that were included in a 2017 online folkloric page about a version of "Mailman Mailman" that includes this "African booty" term. That folkloric page was published by an undergraduate student at University of Southern California - Los Angeles. That page doesn't accept any comments.

This post also includes two YouTube videos of this version of "Mailman Mailman".

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks to all those who are featured in the embedded video, and thanks to the publisher of those videos on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/what-african-booty-means-and-examples.html for a previous pancocojams post on this subject that is entitled What "African Booty" Means And Examples of The Use Of The Term "African Booty" In "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty" Children's Rhymes

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Mailman, Mailman



Celina Aguiniga, Published on Jun 24, 2009

My little sister and her cousin playing Mailman, Mailman after i taught them an hour earlier.

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COMMENT EXCHANGE FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THE VIDEO THAT'S GIVEN ABOVE
Here's a comment that I read while surfing YouTube for examples of "mailman mailman [or "policeman/police lady") do your douty" rhymes:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3G7c6Fj_WM&t=7s [video embedded above]
Iris Lash-Pitterson, 2017
"I'm a public school teacher and I just heard some students on the playground doing this. I asked them if they understood what this is implying. I told them and they did not want to say it any longer (which made me very happy and proud of them). They changed it to "chicken booty". I'm sorry so many people do not see the racist overtones in this rhyme. Being a teacher I know it is important that children practice rhymes like this. It helps with their reading development. But the wording is pretty poor."
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The photograph that accompanies this comment is of a Black woman.

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REPLY
Azizi Powell, November 2018
"As an African American female, I find it interesting that non-African American children are reciting "here comes a lady with an African booty".

My definition of "African booty" is a person with a big butt. This descriptor is usually used for females, but it could also be used for males. My sense is that in the United States (and also in some other cultures) female teenagers and women prefer having a big butt to a flat butt and females of Black African descent are said to have big butts. I therefore don't consider "African booty" to be inherently negative when females want to have a big butt, and don't have a problem with people of any race or ethnicity using this term within the context of chanting and performing this rhyme.

That said, I do have a problem with children or others using "African booty" in a taunting manner apart from chanting and performing this rhyme."

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FOLKLORE UNDERGRADUATE ASSIGNMENT: COLLECTION OF "MAILMAN" RHYME, THAT COLLECTOR'S NOTES & COMMENTS
Here's another example of "Mailman Mailman" collected by Helen Kong, April 26, 2017 and published on April 29, 2017

This example is given with Helen Kong's folklore analysis. It appears that this is part of an undergraduate university assignment.

http://folklore.usc.edu/?tag=clapping
"Main piece:

The mail man one, “Mailman mailman do your duty here comes a lady with an african booty she can do the pom pom she can do the twist most of all she can kiss kiss with her red hot lips k i s s i n g”

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

It was one of the rhymes the kids knew. It wasn’t a favorite but it sticks because it’s the most ridiculous one out of them all. Learned it in 1st grade from some female peer in her class. Informant thinks this one is ridiculous and doesn’t know why little kids sing it because it’s a little inappropriate.

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

It’s a hand clapping game for little kids to sing together.

Personal Analysis:

The “african booty part” is kind of racist. Even the informant said that it’s a weird song to think about. As a kid, she just went along with what the others were doing. I think it has a lot of strange connotations that kids don’t know about. I don’t think this has anything to do with Africa, but I wonder why American kids sing it. Why is it the mail man’s duty to kiss the lady? It’s actually really uncomfortable to think about. “do the pom pom” isn’t even proper grammar. I wonder who was the first person to start this song."
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The page cited above included this information:
"Nationality: Korean-American
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): Korean
Age: 18
Occupation: undergraduate student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 2017-4-26"
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I don't know if this was Helen Kong's information or information about her informant [The person who chanted that version of "Mailman Mailman" that Helen Kong collected].

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MY RESPONSES TO THIS COLLECTOR'S COMMENTS
1. "African booty" means a person with a big butt. That phrase carries the erroneous and admittedly stereotypical idea that all Black African females (teens/women)-including females of some Black African descent- have big butts. Although, this is a stereotype, my sense -as an African American woman- is that "African booty" is either considered by chanters as something that is neutral or something positive, i.e. having a big butt is thought to be a desired physical trait for teenage girls and for women.

In some YouTube videos of "Mailman Mailman" that I've watched, girls (who appear to be White) shake their butts from side to side when they say "African booty". My guess is that that line is said from rote memory (without thinking about what is being said or what it means). Also, the hip shaking movement is a part of the "Miss American beauty" line in "standard" versions of "Mailman Mailman". As such, I think that that movement is performed as a regular part of this hand clap game and not to emphasize whether the girls have a big butt or not.

Here's a video showing non-Black girls chanting an "African booty" version of "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty":

mailman mailman game



KellyJulia12, Published on Jul 11, 2010

Weird, huh?
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One reason why people might say that that rhyme is weird is because they don't understand where the rhyme came from. [Read #5 below]. Also, they may not understand what "African booty" means. That said, I find it interesting that chanters who don't know what "African booty" means would choose to chant that version of "Mailman" instead of the "standard", older versions that say "American beauty".

But perhaps I've answered my own question since "American beauty" may sound "old fashioned" to those chanters and "African booty" may sound hip and (perhaps also) risque, largely because of the Black slang word "booty". I'm sure most American teens know what the African American slang word "booty" means.

That said, children and pre-teens who chant playground rhymes tend to "group-select" a version of a particular rhyme. That is, they usually chant whatever version of a rhyme that they picked up from their peers or whatever version of a rhyme they were taught by someone else.

[This partly answers your question "Why do American kids sing this song". For more of my thoughts on that question read #2]

2. "African booty" is either a folk processed form of "American beauty" or "African booty" was first used* on purpose as a replacement for the term "American beauty". People who learned the rhyme that way or eventually saw it written that way on the internet (since this version is unlikely to have been written off-line), picked it up and the rest-as they say- is history.

*I wrote "used" instead of "coined" because I believe that the referent "African booty stratcher" pre-dates the use of "African booty".(Note that "African booty statcher has never been used in children's rhymes.)

"African booty stratcher" is definitely racist as it equates Black people (and particularly Black Africans) to monkeys or and apes. However, I'm not convinced that "African booty" is an insult when it is chanted in the context of that children's rhyme

It's very likely that African American girls were the first to use the term "African booty" in "Mailman Mailman" rhymes since that population would be most familiar with the African American Vernacular English term "booty" which means "butt"/"behind". The word "African" in the term "African booty" is an adjective.

Also, since the oldest documentation of the phrase "African booty" that I found was in the 1960s, it's possible that that term was first used on purpose as a replacement for "American beauty" because the 1960s (particularly the mid or late 1960) was when a number of Black Americans began embracing our African heritage in a number of ways, including the decision to call ourselves "African Americans". One major reason for this was because a number of African nations achieved their independence from European colonization in the 1960s and African Americans became more aware of the richness of African cultures.

And, as a friendly reminder, it's very inappropriate to write "African" with a lower case "a" just as it would be very inappropriate to write "American" with a lower case "a" or "Korean" with a lower case "k".

Update: November 16, 2018- It occurs to me that it's possible that whoever replaced the phrase "American beauty" with "African ___" may have chanted African beauty and that phrase was folk processed [changed because of mishearing or mis-remembering] to "African booty". I've found a few examples of "Mailman Mailman" that say "African beauty" instead of "African booty". Those examples are included in the pancocojams post entitled "What "African Booty" Means And Examples of The Use Of The Term "African Booty" In "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty" Children's Rhymes" whose link is given above.

3. I agree with the collector that a lot of children "go along with what other are doing" when they chant and perform hand clap rhymes or other recreational singing and movement rhymes. Sometimes these chanters don't fully understand what is being said, bu try to make sense out of the words that they are chanting. That's one way that folk processed words and phrases occur.

4. American kids (and kids in other nations who've learned it) perform this hand clap/movement rhyme because it's fun. My guess is that the people who chant this rhyme like the somewhat competitive movements* more than they like its words.

*The two chanters playing this hand clap/movement game try to be the first one to perform a full split without falling down. 

In the 1950s I jumped rope to the version of "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty". I'm not sure when the "doing splits" performance activity was first documented while chanting "Mailman Mailman".

5. The versions of "Mailman Mailman" that are chanted nowadays (including the ones with the "African booty" term) are folk processed forms of much older versions. These versions include old lines and newer lines. Here's a version of "Postman Postman" that makes sense in reference to the "do your duty" words:

"Postman, Postman, do your duty.
Send this letter to an American beauty.
Don't you stop and don't delay.
Get it to her right away."
-https://www.buyjumpropes.net/jump-rope-rhymes/postman-postman-do-your-duty/

6. "Do the pom poms" can be considered correct English. A lot of 1990s/2000 R&B/Hip Hop dance trends have the name "Do the ___"- for example "Do the Dougie".

"Do the pom poms" means to shake your hands in front of your chest the way cheerleaders shake pom poms.

7. "I wonder who was the first person to start this song." I take it you mean the version of "Mailman" that includes the term "African booty". I also wonder who was the first person to chant this rhyme that way. We'll never know, but if anyone remembers this version from the 1960s or 1970s or 1980s (or earlier), I'd love to "hear" from you.

Please share any examples of this rhyme that you remember in the comment section below, along with demographics [city/state or nation if outside of the United States and the decade you remember it].

Also, I'm interested in feedback about my comments on this subject. Please share your thoughts on whether the term "African booty" in children's rhymes is racist.

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