Tuesday, March 7

Baa Baa Rainbow sheep

From the editor's breakfast table.

This morning, whilst munching my high fibre breakfast cereal I mused over a BBC today programme early morning report that the politically correct 'police' had struck, yet again.
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Two children's nurseries in Oxfordshire are teaching their pre-school children a new PC version of Baa Baa Black Sheep - they are now chanting ''Baa Baa Rainbow sheep...''
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The charity running the nurseries, Parents and Children Together (Pact), said the move was ''educational, not motivated by racial concerns.'' Pact said (unconvincingly) children were encouraged to use a wide range of words in songs, perhaps they should have said spectrum !
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Anyway, if the Oxfordshire toddler teachers get their way we will be eating not blackberries but rainbowberries, for fear of moral rainbowmail (blackmail), whilst baking four and twenty rainbowbirds (blackbirds) baked in a (low fat) pie. In the Palace or Westminster Rainbow Rod (the renamed ancient position of Black Rod) will most definitely require a coat of many colours. Snooker loving folk will be potting rainbow then contemplating in our nations pubs the rebranding of Yorkshire's finest real ale, Rainbow Sheep.
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As for what Hector's nephew Jesse (my black - sorry Rainbow - cat ) will think about it all when he returns from his routine (fluffy) rodent control tour I really don't know.
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In the PC correct nursery in Oxfordshire they will no longer chant the very British traditional rhyme:
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''Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full; one for the master, and one for the dame, and one for the little boy Who lives down the lane ''
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but will without any feeling ( yet with full PC compliance) the young ones will perhaps chant:
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'' Baa, baa rainbow sheep, have you any wool ? Yes person yes person, three (environmentally friendly trading standards approved) bags full; one each for the gender equality ( and non age discriminated) community leader as well as one for the young person who lives in a child friendly nanny state down the lane.''
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PT

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well this is totally unacceptable you can't use the word BLACK it has such negative connotations. Oh no oh sorry err I did not mean negative in that sense as that would be to imply that BLACK is somewhat less of a colour (can I say that?) than say ummmn any other colour. Ah why have I picked BLACK out oooh err well it could have bee BROWN not that BRON is any less or more than BLACK but might be better than YELLOW. No I did not catagorically say YELLOW was any less than BLACK or BROWN, well OK yah, BROWN or BLACK if you want it put that way, which you do. Now take WHITE..........DON'T HIT ME!

Anonymous said...

kelly you are so right, there is nothing wrong with the sheep being black.
i think the nersery should stay as it should if you are going to change that nursery rhyme then why not change then nursery rhyme about a baby falling from a tree. rock-a-
bye-baby? or what about snow white?

Anonymous said...

"i think the nersery should stay as it should"

I think you should learn how to spell before getting on your high-horse.

By the way, changing the rhyme to a an ironic 'PC' version? It's been done mate. Many, many times.

Anonymous said...

Kettle calling the pot Rainbow sheep me thinks!