http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/opinion/the-pain-of-the-watermelon-joke.html?_r=0

“Turkey in the Straw” survives despite the various awful lyrics that have been stuck on it (It was also used for an equally awful song called “Old Zip Coon”, to which further lyrics were added to satirize Andrew Jackson.). Slavery and blackface minstrel shows have passed off the scene, and I believe racism itself is in a long slow decline, but “Turkey in the Straw” will endure.
Love the blog, not incidentally. It’s nice to know someone else hates the “anyone who might have been offended” thing. In Niall Ferguson’s apology over his John Maynard Keynes slur, he had the sense to apologize to everyone; in a lot of cases, anyone who wasn’t offended ought to have been.
– Old Rockin’ Dave

http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Oakland-artist-seeks-to-reclaim-the-watermelon-2628015.php

I love these.

Telling unknowing children about ugly stuff is so difficult. If they don’t see how suggesting that someone does or does not eat watermelon can be a slur (and really, how much sense does that make?), it’s a temptation to leave it alone.

But the Watermelongate incident Andria describes shows that this isn’t a dead issue, isn’t buried in the archives. So it’s better to know.