That's Why Darkies Were Born

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That's Why Darkies Were Born - Wikipedia

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"That's Why Darkies Were Born"

Song by various artists
Released	1931
Recorded	1931
Songwriter(s)	Ray Henderson and Lew Brown
Notably recorded by Paul Robeson and Kate Smith

"That's Why Darkies Were Born" was a popular song written by Ray Henderson and Lew Brown. It originated in George White's Scandals of 1931, where white baritone Everett Marshall performed the song in blackface.^[1]

The song was most famously recorded by popular singer Kate Smith, whose rendition was a hit in 1931,^[2]^{[better source needed]} and by award-winning singer, film star, scholar, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.^[3]^[4] It was also featured in a 1931 all-star recording of a medley of songs from George White's Scandals, where it was sung by Frank Munn on Brunswick and just as famously part of Paul Whiteman medley sung by Native American jazz singer Mildred Bailey on Victor.

One verse runs:

Someone had to pick the cotton,

Someone had to plant the corn,

Someone had to slave and be able to sing,

That's why darkies were born.

The song was part of a fatalistic musical genre in the 1930s where African-Americans were depicted as "fated to work the land, fated to be where they are, to never change".^[1] "That's Why Darkies Were Born" has been described as presenting a satirical view of racism,^[5] although others have said there is no evidence that the song was ever performed in a satirical or joking manner.^[1] The song was criticized as racist by African-American audiences in the early 1930s, and Mildred Bailey received many letters from the public urging her to stop performing it in 1931.^[1]

In popular culture

The song is referenced in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup, when Groucho Marx's character Rufus T. Firefly says, "My father was a little headstrong, my mother was a little armstrong. The Headstrongs married the Armstrongs, and that's why darkies were born".^[5] Part of Marx's line, primarily the term "darkies", was removed from television prints of this film in the early 1970s. The full dialogue was restored in 1980 for home video releases and future broadcast syndication.^{[citation needed]}

On April 18, 2019, the baseball team New York Yankees announced that Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" would no longer be played at Yankee Stadium, citing "That's Why Darkies Were Born" along with another controversial song sung by Smith, "Pickaninny Heaven".^[6]^[7] The Philadelphia Flyers followed suit the next day, covering up a statue of Smith that stood outside the Wells Fargo Center,^[8] then removing the statue on April 21, 2019.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Schad, Tom (June 23, 2019). "'A song is never just a song': The complicated history behind the controversy over Kate Smith's 'God Bless America'". USA Today. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
^ "Top Ten Hits of 1931". Ntl.matrix.com.br. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
^ "Paul Robeson discography". Wirz' American Music.
^ "Paul Robeson discography". Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility -- Chicago Chapter. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Snider, Eric D. (February 28, 2011). "What's the Big Deal?: Duck Soup (1933)". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
^ Bondy, Stefan (April 18, 2019). "Yankees dump Kate Smith's 'God Bless America' from rotation over singer's racist songs". Daily News. New York. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
^ "Pickaninny Heaven, by Kate Smith". Song Facts. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
^ Bryan, Cleve (April 19, 2019). "Flyers To Stop Using Kate Smith's Recording Of 'God Bless America,' Covering Statue After Alleged History Of Racism". CBS Philly. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
^ Rolen, Emily (April 21, 2019). "Kate Smith statue removed from Wells Fargo Center". Philly Voice. Retrieved April 21, 2019.

External links

Lyrics at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 2012) via Lyon College
Paul Robeson – That's Why Darkies Were Born – 1931 via YouTube
Kate Smith – That's Why Darkies Were Born – 1931 via YouTube

v t e Paul Robeson
Discography Filmography
Films	Body and Soul (1925) Camille (1926) Borderline (1930) The Emperor Jones (1933) Sanders of the River (1935) Show Boat (1936) Song of Freedom (1936) Big Fella (1937) My Song Goes Forth (1937) King Solomon's Mines (1937) Jericho (1937) The Proud Valley (1940) Native Land (1942) Tales of Manhattan (1942) The Song of the Rivers (1954) The Tallest Tree in Our Forest (1977) Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979) Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am (1988) Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (1999) Paul Robeson: Songs of Freedom (2008)
Stage shows	Shuffle Along Show Boat Emperor Jones All God's Chillun Got Wings The Hairy Ape Othello 1930, London 1943, Broadway 1959, Stratford 1958 Carnegie Hall Plant in The Sun John Henry Peace Arch Concerts
Albums	Ballad for Americans Songs of Free Men Spirituals Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Paul Robeson: Favorite Songs Paul Robeson at Carnegie Hall "Encore, Robeson!" (Paul Robeson: Favorite Songs, Vol. 2)
Songs	"Go Down Moses" "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" (1925) "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (1926) "Ol' Man River" (1928) "Mighty Lak' a Rose" (1930) "That's Why Darkies Were Born" (1931) "Gloomy Sunday" (1936) "Just Awearyin' for You" (1938) "A Perfect Day" (1939) "Ballad for Americans" (1939) "Land of My Fathers" (1940) "Joe Hill" "On My Journey Now"
Activism and history	Paul Robeson and the International Brigades Political views of Paul Robeson Council on African Affairs Civil Rights Congress American Crusade Against Lynching We Charge Genocide Progressive Party Freedomways Peekskill riots
Writings and speeches	Freedom newspaper I Want to Be African Negroes—Don't Ape the Whites Negroes Should Join the CIO Time to Bring Negro Players Into the Major Leagues Never Again Can Colonialism Be What It Was Paul Robeson Congressional hearings Thoughts on Winning the Stalin Peace Prize To You Beloved Comrade Ho Chi Minh Is Toussaint L'Ouverture of Indo-China We Can Learn from the Struggle in South Africa Here I Stand Paul Robeson Speaks
Family and friends	Eslanda Goode Robeson (wife) Paul Robeson Jr. (son) William Drew Robeson I (father) Lawrence Benjamin Brown Benjamin J. Davis Jr. Lloyd L. Brown Andrew Faulds W. E. B. Du Bois Shirley Graham Du Bois Clara Rockmore Revels Cayton Pete Seeger Ossie Davis
Associates	Carl Van Vechten Eugene O'Neill Elisabeth Welch Jomo Kenyatta Kwame Nkrumah Jawaharlal Nehru Itzik Feffer Howard Fast Henry Wallace Louis E. Burnham Uta Hagen Joe Louis Harry Belafonte Esther Cooper Jackson Max Yergan Pool Group Margaret Webster Tony Benn Nikita Khrushchev Will Paynter Bumpy Johnson Earl Robinson Walter Camp Peggy Ashcroft Martin Duberman Fania Marinoff
Locations	Rutgers University Priory Group Royal Shakespeare Company School of Oriental and African Studies Columbia Law School Moscow Conservatory Paul Robeson House (Philadelphia) Paul Robeson House (London) Paul Robeson Home Paul Robeson Theatre South Shore Cultural Center, Chicago Store Front Museum, New York
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