Folk songs left behind as culture moves on

Chances are kids will never learn — or even hear — American folk songs unless parents teach them.

Folks songs often detail the origins of the American experience:

“I’ve been working on the railroad”

“Oh My Darling Clementine”

“Oh Susanna”

“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore”

“This Land Is Your Land”

“John Henry”

Although these songs are widely available on recordings, schools, with declining musical offerings, don’t use many any more.

In 2003, University of Florida doctoral student Marilyn Ward discovered in her thesis work that American folk songs were already gone from school curriculum and precious few teachers wanted them back.

When Ward surveyed music teachers about the songs, she encountered frequent objections.

Among the objections:

* Multicultural curriculums don’t include American culture.

* Low socio-economic schools need to teach pop songs.

* Folk songs might have racist backgrounds.

* Some songs have a Christian basis.

Although the songs like “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” notably did have verses tied to racist minstrel shows, these verses were typically not taught in public schools.

Other songs, like “Wade in the Water,” were Christian gospel songs with a secret message: How slaves could escape dog tracking.

Christmas carols typically are not taught in school curriculum because of modern constitutional issues. Churches might keep these alive and, in fact, churches have produced many musicians and singers popular in today’s music scene. Still, church attendance is declining, according to recent research from Pew.

Musical instruction itself is often lagging in public education as support for all arts decreases. In 2015, the US Department of Education found that 40 percent of high schools don’t require any coursework in the arts for graduation. In 2010, more than 8,000 public schools were without any music programs. About 1.3 million elementary school students didn’t have access to learning music.