The flight attendant claimed she had no idea that the children’s rhyme might have racist connotations. I had no idea that the rhyme had a racist history until I began researching it yesterday.Īn example of this ignorance was the use of the rhyme by a 22-year old Southwest Airlines flight attendant in 2001 who said the following over the intercom: “Eenie meenie minie mo, pick a seat, we gotta go.” Two African-American passengers sued the airline for making the racist remark and discriminating against African-Americans. The racist aspect of the rhyme seems to be largely unknown to the past few generations of chanters/singers. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the racist second line morphed into “catch a tiger.” Why a tiger? Who knows. It is thought to be a reference to slave selection or what slave owners would do if they caught a runaway slave.
It used to be sung as “catch a nigger by its toe” and such line made its way into the rhyme shortly after the civil war when racial tensions in the aftermath of slavery were very high. The second line didn’t always refer to a tiger.
Why would you want to catch a tiger by its toe? And what are the odds that after doing so the tiger would holler to be let go? The second line in the American playground version “catch a tiger by its toe” makes no sense. Such rhymes have been quite common throughout the past few hundred years. Versions in Other Languagesĭr.Adrienne Raphel, writing in the Paris Review provides these following other examples of forms of Eeny Meeny:Īdditionally, there are many other counting and sorting rhymes that are similar to eeny meeny.
A third theory is that its orgins can be traced back to ancient Celtic rituals of sorting out who should die as a sacrifice.īasically, nobody knows where the rhyme originated, but it goes back further than American children on the playground. Another theory is that it was coined by shepherds in England in Scotland as they chanted to count their sheep. One theory is that it originated from Saõ Tomenese, a creole language spoken by African slaves. Eeny meeny miny mo – what does it mean? Where did it come from? Why would you want to catch a tiger by its toe? Is it racist? OriginsĮeny Meeny is known as a “counting rhyme” or “chanting rhyme” and forms of it have existed for hundreds of years and in many different languages.
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