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Song of the South: Black Americans
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On at least one occasion, Emmett attributed "Dixie" to an unnamed Southern black man,[33] and some of his contemporaries said that the song was based on an old African American folk tune. Taken at face value, these claims are hardly surprising, as minstrels often billed themselves as authentic delineators of slave material. Names of these chance-met black songwriters were rarely given.[43]
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The 1946 film is memorable for many reasons, from its Oscar-winning song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" to its then-groundbreaking blend of live action and animation. Thousands of fans have signed an online petition requesting that it be released, arguing that the insensitive depictions of African-American characters would be understood by modern viewers as a reflection of a bygone era, as they are in Gone with the Wind.
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Both Union and Confederate composers produced war versions of the song during the American Civil War. These variants standardized the spelling and made the song more militant, replacing the slave scenario with specific references to the conflict or to Northern or Southern pride. This Confederate verse by Albert Pike is representative:
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