With the Black Lives Matter campaign gathering momentum, I wondered how long it would be before Swing Low Sweet Chariot, one of the anthems of the England rugby team, came into the spotlight. I did know it was a spiritual slavery song, which seems to have first been associated with Martin Offiah, the England winger, when he played in the Middlesex Sevens in the 1970's.
Analysing pop music and its heritage, together with lyrics, is going to be a massive task if we really think that is the point at which we have arrived. Rugby is a multi-cultural game, sides are multi-racial and up until now nobody has complained about the song. That of course is not to say it is right to sing it but is it the tip of the ice-berg?
Scotland singing 'Flower of Scotland' with it's anti-English undertones never seemed to have worried us, and indeed I have sung it many times in Edinburgh after a game. Will I have to stop singing 'Bloody Great Fishes are Wales' to the tune of their national anthem, and what else will the Welsh be able to ask us to stick up our behind, if chariots are not available? We are in very strange times at the moment, and have to be very careful how sanitised we become.
Dominic Rabb was called out today for making a personal comment about the 'take a knee' ritual and I have said before that it seems strange that the image of Black Lives Matter is a parody of the very action which caused the stirring of anger and frustration which we are experiencing at the moment. We cannot re-write history, oh that we could sometimes, so we need to ensure the changes we make are for the better, and not just knee jerk reactions (ouch!)
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