The allegedly “questionable past” of Yuletide staple “Jingle Bells” has locked the barn door on the holiday song at a primary school in upstate New York, an online posting revealed.
A music teacher’s unsigned note on the Brighton Central Schools District’s “diversity and equity” webpage said the instructor found “songs that had been previously used/taught (by me as well!) that had a questionable past.”
Among the questioned compositions were “Canoe Song,” “Ching a Ring Chaw,” “Little Liza Jane,” and “Cumberland Gap.” The only holiday-related tune mentioned was “Jingle Bells.”
“These are no longer in our repertoire,” the posting read, “and are replaced with more contemporary, and relevant content.”
The exiling of “Jingle Bells” was first reported by writer Peter Lovenheim in the Rochester Beacon, an online publication. The article identified Council Rock Primary School as the place where the song was canceled. Principal Matt Tappon told the publication the song had “the potential to be controversial or offensive.”
According to the report, Mr. Tappon and others cited a 2017 article in the academic journal “Theatre Survey” which places the origin of “Jingle Bells” in minstrel shows either in Medford, Massachusetts, or Savannah, Georgia.
The article, written by Boston University professor Kyna Hamill, documents an 1857 performance of “Jingle Bells” at a minstrel show “in which white actors performed in blackface,” the online report noted.
The Rochester Beacon quoted Ms. Hamill as saying, “I am actually quite shocked the school would remove the song from the repertoire … I, in no way, recommended that it stopped being sung by children.”
Ms. Hamill also discounted another reason the Brighton Central School district gave for dropping the song, that bells were placed on slaves to alert owners to runaways.
The Beacon quoted Allison Rioux, the district’s assistant superintendent, for curriculum and instruction saying the possible connection of “slave bells” to “Jingle Bells” was enough to cancel the traditional tune.
“While we are not taking a stance to whether that is true or not, we do feel strongly that this line of thinking is not in agreement with our district beliefs to value all cultures and experiences of our students,” the Beacon quotes Ms. Rioux as saying.
The Washington Times reached out to the school district’s communications coordinator for comment via a phone message and email.
The district, however, is on holiday break.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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