In the small town of Springfield, there was a middle school that held a music recital for the students. Parents from all over town gathered to watch their children perform, but what they saw on that day left them stunned and disappointed. The eighth-grade choir took the stage and sang a song called “Cotton Needs Pickin’”. This was just a few days after some students from the district were seen posing with a Confederate flag, which had already caused tension in the community.

Nicole Maulsby, a parent of one of the students, was particularly outraged. She recorded the performance and shared it on Facebook, where it quickly went viral. Her husband, Alonzo, who is African American, was so offended that he walked out of the auditorium during the performance. Nicole felt that the song was performed with racist intent and that the school was trying to promote slavery. She was not alone in her thoughts as many others who watched the video on Facebook felt the same way.

“I know that timing can sound bad, but it’s a historical component for what the choir department had to use for their curriculum.”

The Superintendent of Springfield Schools, Matt Geha, denied that the song was performed with racist intent and claimed that it was part of the school’s curriculum. He stated that the song was taken from a book of American folk songs and that he had not received any direct complaints about it. But the number of complaints streaming in from the Facebook post was alarming to him and the teachers at the school.

The lyrics of the song included, “Cotton needs pickin’ so bad, we’re going to pick all over this field.” Nicole felt that the song was too close to the recent racial controversies in the community and that the school had made an unwise choice.

Just a month prior to the performance, members of a Christian youth organization called Young Life had shared videos and photos of themselves posing with the Confederate flag during a rally and had also posted content online with racial slurs via their Snapchat feeds.

The choice of song only added fuel to the fire of the already heated racial debate in the town of Springfield. Whether or not the school meant for the song to have racist connotations, it was a mistake given the recent controversies regarding race relations in the community. The parents and residents of Springfield were left with a bitter taste in their mouths and a desire for change.

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Sources: AWM, CBSNews, APNews