There are some contexts in which "black sheep" is negative. For example the black sheep of the family denotes the bad one in the family. I have no idea where this idea arose.
Cheers, Ken Hanly --- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Nov 10, 2007, at 11:57 AM, Sean Andrews wrote:
>
> > What did you search for? I looked for just baa
> baa sheep (no quotes)
> > and all of them that came up had the black in the
> middle.
>
> With quotes. I had to go about 50 down the list to
> find some good
> stuff though.
>
> > It does look like there was an instance, in the UK
> last year, where a
> > parents group tried to replace the "black" with
> "rainbow."
> >
> >
>
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/
>
> > article738220.ece
> >
> >
>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4782856.stm
>
> Several of the anti-PC rants were from Britain. so
> it appears to be
> an issue there. Some seem to drop the color, some
> alternate black and
> white - and then there's this rainbow.
>
> > I guess I don't understand the origin of the song
> and I'm sure it is
> > naive to think that the use of "black" in the
> verse is just a result
> > of black sheep being a naturally occurring
> phenomenon, but it really
> > doesn't seem like a racist rant.
>
> One of the blogs - and we know how well they're
> fact-checked! - said
> that black sheep were considered cursed, and yielded
> less wool. That
> certainly does stigmatize blackness, even if it's
> not overtly and
> literally racist.
>
> > In fact, since I assume it comes
> > from England, I'd think it had something to do
> with class or
> > enclosures since sheep themselves were hardly an
> a-political topic.
> > But I can't quite get that out of the rhyme just
> by reading it.
>
> Another blog - similar user warning incorporated by
> reference to the
> above - said that the song refers both to the wool
> tax of 1245 (!)
> and to enclosure.
>
> A bag for my master, even if it does bear an
> obsolete feudal
> association, certainly does help naturalize
> hierarchy, and owing
> something to your exploiting overlord, doesn't it?
> Even if there is
> some trace of protest.
>
> Oh, and in older versions there was "none" for the
> boy down the lane;
> we've sanitized that into "one" for the neighbor.
>
> Doug
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