Comments on: Innocent Hand Clap or Racist Song?

By: nini

nini — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:49:12 +0000

I used to sing a similar version of this when I was in elementary school… it was pretty popular at the time. I never knew it was racist and I actually liked it because I thought it was catchy. I still sing it sometimes whenever I think of it. And I’m Chinese.

I don’t think it’s racist if someone says Chinese have small eyes or anything, because tbh it’s just a stereotype. Not all Chinese people have small eyes, just like not all Chinese people are good at math, it’s just a stereotype.

But that’s just my opinion.

By: claire

claire — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 23:20:21 +0000

Wow,…My very first very best friend who
happened to be Chinese and I loved dearly spent a while teaching me I went to a Chinese restaurant to buy a loaf of bread bread bread, he wrapped it up in a 5 pound note and this is what he said said said as clapping. Then we held hands whilst tapping the back of our held hand and high fived above and below whilst singing my name is kay i kipple i kipple i kay i humble charlie big chief how.
We did it for hours in the garden along with Alice the camel.

By: Melissa Taylor

Melissa Taylor — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:51:06 +0000

In reply to Elay Eyelay. wow, sorry to hear that.

By: Elay Eyelay

Elay Eyelay — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:39:00 +0000

My daughter sang this song tonight at bedtime. We are South Asian. I was gobsmacked. Apparently the teacher has told them never to sing it, but the children in her class have understood that to mean “Never sing it IN FRONT OF *** (a child of East Asian origin in their class). Big wow. Something has not computed. It’s great for us to have intentional dialogues with them as parents, but the teachers need to be digging a little deeper with this too.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 12:36:24 +0000

I sing this song in the playground at my school but I have never heard this version..
the only version I had ever heard was this one and it does completely different actions:
I went into a bakers restraunt
to buy a loaf of bread,bread,bread
I wrapped it up in a five pound note and this is what she said,said,said
my…. (really fast) name is andy pandy sugar and candy drinking pepsi
in the back yard
mom had a baby called it daisy dorve it crazy and that was the end of that,that,that!
the actions are bread,bread,bread you pattercake
said said said do the same
drinking pepsi mime drinking out of a can
mom had a baby rock baby in your arms
drove it crazy put your thumbs by your ears and make a funny face
that,that,that pattercake
if you want your kid to learn somthing like this instead of the other song she can still have fun but will stop doing the other one
so if you say somthing like: I have found a better song and show her it then it would probably work out!:p this is from the point of veiw of a child.

By: Rashmie @MommyLabs

Rashmie @MommyLabs — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:18:00 +0000

Dear Melissa,
Thank you for sharing the link to this post in your reply to my article about ‘multi-cultural learning and role of schools’. I think – like others here have said, too – your daughter was completely unaware of the meaning and impact of the song. But, you were so thoughtful in bringing it up in a way that she will understand and empathize. I really admire your compassionate parenting.

While, it’s essential for the majority group in the community to protect the rights and dignity of the minority people, it’s as much important for the minority to stand up for themselves and not take what they think challenges their self-esteem and dignity.
In India, we have multiple faiths and even in one faith (like Hinduism), there are myriad castes and sub castes. Often there are biases and prejudices and stereotypes are formed without any basis. A multi-cultural interaction in schools will help a lot in clearing the path for an accepting, empathetic and peaceful future generation.

By: Melissa Taylor

Melissa Taylor — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:02:50 +0000

In reply to DEP. Thank you for sharing your story. It's true, we have to explain things and always be intentional with our parenting!

By: DEP

DEP — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:21:41 +0000

That harmless phrase was the beginning of one of those common school-yard clapping songs-the 21st century version of “Miss Mary Mack”-that my Asian-born daughter came home singing the other day. I didn’t think too much about it until I realized that the song came complete with gestures-one of which involved pulling the sides of the eyes into a long slit (aka Chinese eyes).

I hemmed and hawed about what to do. I felt that this gesture was disrespectful and could lead to other stereotyping and teasing, but since I sometimes go off half-baked I decided to cool my jets for a bit.

The results of yesterday’s poll swayed me. All of the voters indicated that they would take some action-evenly split between intervening immediately if their child was bullied or helping the child deal with the situation and then intervening if the child needed further assistance.

I opted for contacting the school and the teacher. Thankfully, their take on the incident was similar to mine-not appropriate, disrespectful and must end-and the teacher took immediate action in the classroom and the school principal readily acknowledged that the problem was not likely isolated to the third-grade and they would be taking action school-wide.

Later in the day, I got an email from the teacher. She had spoken to some of the kids involved-none of them had really listened to the words or understood the implications of the gestures. Her comment-when do we learn what the words mean?

The answer, I think, is “when we teach them what it means”. My daughter was furious that I went to her teacher-she said she wasn’t upset by the song or the gesture. I had to explain to her that both were disrespectful and inappropriate and that I was standing up for what I felt was right-and the school was supportive.

My daughter learned two valuable lessons-1) The importance of standing up for what you believe-even if it doesn’t effect you directly and 2)why that particular song and gesture were inappropriate. With luck she will begin to evaluate other things with a more critical eye-asking herself and her peers to be more considerate of others and figuring out that is never ok to make fun of the way anyone looks-ever.

These are lessons that need to be taught. They don’t happen automatically. So, if you are parenting on autopilot-as we all do-take a minute and listen to what your kids are singing, what they are saying to their friends and others-and make sure that you like what you hear-or do something about it.

With respect,