You’ll Never Hear the Ice Cream Truck Song the Same Way

SPOILER ALERT  If you don’t want a fond childhood memory to be shook, you may not want to read this entire post.  Alternately, if you care about knowing the truth at all costs, keep reading.

Remember last week when I was talking about the origin of the ‘black people & watermelon’ stereotype?  Well, if you can imagine, it gets worse.  The racist images were on display in advertisements and in entertainment.  But it didn’t stop there.  The stereotype grew in such a way to teach the next generation to hate as well.

Name this familiar sound from our childhood:

If you said it’s the sound of the ice cream man, you’re only half-right.  It is indeed that heartbeat-inducing music that would cause us to stop whatever we were doing to beg our parents for money to go get a [insert name of YOUR favorite popsicle].  Unfortunately, that song is also the soundtrack to the watermelon stereotype.

Check this out. 

The song’s aim was to further dehumanize Black people by saying we’re so simple and ignorant that not even ice cream can tear us away from our watermelon obsession.  Ain’t that some ish?!!!  Post George Floyd, there was quite a bit of talk about black trauma. Yet trauma doesn’t have to be as overt as watching George Floyd being murdered. It can persist in much more subtle ways, like in a song.

Why talk about this now?  What about the argument that says we should let the past be the past? Well one of the things my work with Grief Recovery has taught me is that all unresolved pain from the past affects us in the present. We are not meant to ignore our past; we are meant to address it then make necessary changes. So the next time you hear that ice cream truck rolling through your neighborhood, what will you do?