Free Republic

Brighton, N.Y. (WHAM) - It's arguably one of the most popular holiday songs in the world, however, it will no longer be sung at Council Rock Elementary in Brighton. First reported by the online publication, the Rochester Beacon, the school has decided to remove 'Jingle Bells' from it's repertoire due to the song's 'questionable past'. The Rochester Beacon says principal Matt Tappon confirmed the song, and several others, have been replaced with different songs that don't have the "potential to be controversial or offensive." The article says a factor in the decision was research published in 2017 by Boston University...

According to the school’s diversity page, there were songs that had been previously used that had a questionable past. One of the examples the school listed was “Jingle Bells.” The school noted that other questionable songs were removed from the curriculum and “are no longer in our repertoire, and are replaced with more contemporary, and relevant content.” The Beacon reports that the school’s decision was based on a 2017 article written by Boston University Professor Kyna Hamill. Hamill alleged she had found documents proving the song had first been performed publicly at a minstrel show in 1857. When told of...