Childhood's Double Meanings
I love to sing-a about the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a. I love to sing-a about the sky of blue-a and a tea for two-a…I love to sing! I have been singing this song from a favorite Merrie Molodies cartoon for most of my life. Today, I decided to make the little owl who sings the song my Facebook profile picture. I wanted to know what the song’s actual words were so I did a quick internet search. I learned that Cab Calloway and Al Jolson had made the song popular. I thought, “It’s a Cab Calloway song! No wonder I like it!” The name Al Jolson sounded familiar but I didn’t remember why. Another quick internet search informed me that he was a popular American singer, actor and comedian. Then came the shock. I chose to look at the images before reading through all the text of the Wikipedia entry for him. What did I find? A picture of him in blackface! My heart sank. My stomach went sour. I thought about every time I’ve sung that song over the years