Why 'My Old Kentucky Home' is controversial, explained

If you watch the Kentucky Derby, you know one of the most notable pastimes is a playing of the old Stephen Foster song "My Old Kentucky Home. " While it's the Kentucky state song, the ballad carries with it a good bit of controversy for its origins. The song was written by Foster in 1853 for a traveling minstrel group,  per  The Courrier-Journal 's Chris Kenning .

The initial lyrics featured a racist term used to describe the Black slaves of the time, as the content of the song involves a slave being sold into bondage and saying farewell to their home. Kenning  wrote about this specific context  of the song's problematic origins back in 2019: "It's a tragic song" that has "become such a key part of a classic American celebration," said Emily Bingham, a Louisville historian working on a book on the song. Written in 1853 by Stephen Foster for a traveling minstrel group, the song is a slave's lament about being sold down the river.

The slave is saying goodbye to Kentucky to face abuse and toil in the "land where the sugar canes grow. " The original lyrics included the line, "the darkies are gay," before the Kentucky General Assembly in 1986 changed some of the offending words, substituting "people" for "darky" and "darkies. " The song is typically performed by the University of Louisville Marching Band and choir as the horses head to the starting gate.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: My Old Kentucky Home controversy at Kentucky Derby, explained