What if there was a song that had been passed down from generation to generation with extreme racial undertones. A song, that has such a racial background that it was the national anthem for a rebel, pro slavery, nation. Although the song does not have any direct mentions of slavery and racism there are plenty examples of the songs racist underlining. A song championed by the Confederate States of America (CSA), "Dixie" is a song that has been passed down in the southern culture for many years. This song is primarily used to promote the South and dixieland, but is also seen to be used as a song that promotes racism and slavery as well. "Dixie" has been used many years to promote southern culture and show pride in the lifestyle that southerners lived in the pre- civil rights movement era. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to fight the culture promoted in "Dixie" with his speech, "The World House" ,by attacking the bigotry and racism that was so accepted in this time period. The song "Dixie" is one of the many civil war songs that has continued to be a spark for racism in America. So much so, that "Dixie" was a helping hand in rallying southerners to fight against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement in the 1960's.

When reading the lyrics of the song "Dixie" nothing really jumps out at you as blatantly racist, but to know the meaning of something, a person needs to understand the background and see all the possible angles of it. The song starts with "I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times 

there are not forgotten. Look away, look away, look away, Dixie's land." Now just reading those lines by themselves, one wouldn't tend to assume it had any racist tone. But if the person had a good knowledge of the civil war and history of slavery, they would see the racist undertone. The meaning of the line, "I wish I was in the land ..not forgotten", is somewhat easy to spot. Since many black slaves back then were used a great amount to pick cotton on the southern plantations there is a possible reference to that in the first line of the song. Cotton was in fact one of the biggest exports the south had at the time, which made the demand for cotton higher therefore a higher demand for slaves. The cotton industry made the slave trade blow up and become bigger and bigger. Now knowing that slaves were used primarily to pick cotton, the line seems very obnoxious about slavery in the south. The song also uses nostalgia to help the listener remember the times of peace and slavery with the line about not forgetting the old times. 

Another example of racism in the song is the line "Then I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray! In dixie's land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie". This line, again, does not scream racist to the naked eye, but with the background knowledge a person could see the "live and die with dixie" culture present in the song. The dixie culture the song is "living and dying" with, is a culture of slavery and racism. The previous line also mentions taking a stand in dixieland. This is basically a direct reference to the civil war, which was a war fought over the southern states seceding from the Union because of a disagreement regarding slavery. This line almost sounds like propaganda to make the listener want to fight and protect the dixieland they call home. The CSA most likely used this song to promote dixie culture within the south during the civil war. 

Although the word dixie is primarily used the same as saying the south, some people in today's world have claimed the word offensive and racially backed. At schools like Ole Miss, where the song Dixie was one of their most popular songs, it was banned from being played on campus. The song was so popular there, that the song was used as the school's fight song, which they played at home football games. The song has recently been banned from being played after many students claimed the song was a racially driven song. Even though the song has been played for ages the school thought it best to end the tradition to eliminate a culture unwanted at the university. This exact problem, the prevalence of the "dixie culture", is still somewhat popular in the south and was even more prevalent during the civil rights movement. The problem with allowing songs like "Dixie" to be played on Itunes and youtube is that it spreads and grows a culture this country has been fighting to move past for almost half a century.

In the 1960's, during the civil rights movement it was songs like "Dixie" that helped promote a pro slavery mentality in the South and made it extremely hard for Martin Luther King Jr. to try to mend the two different sides. Most southerners were still unhappy about the outcome of the civil war and there was still a significant divide between the south and the north. So when the Civil rights movement began to spark up the southerners felt like the government was overstepping their boundary trying to end segregation, just because the south was still weak and they were able to do it. This made the "dixie culture" enthusiasts very angry and brought them together to fight back. Although most people from afar had believed that this sort of culture had almost died in the south, they were proven wrong very quickly. One reason the "dixie culture" was so quick to reintroduce itself was because it had never really left. The song "Dixie" is a very good song if the listener puts aside the racial undertone, so much so, that the people in the south are reminded of this mindset and culture every time they listen to it. This made trying to make a change in the culture so much more difficult for MLK because the people were reminded of a much more raw and powerful form of racism (slavery), that was way more extreme than what MLK was fighting at the moment. 

As MLK fought to make a change in the United States he had to face some very serious challenges such as the KKK and worrying about the black panther group fighting back. The KKK was so intertwined with the dixie culture that at one point they even changed their name to the Dixie Klan. Then King was quoted saying, "the time to make freedom and equality a reality is here and now"(King Jr. 285 Carolina Reader) in his speech "The World House". As most people can see King is asking for the two sides to come together and live in peace, but this is a heavy request seeing as both sides have maintained, for all intensive purposes, a fierce dislike of one another. As most can see, the two sides are very far apart in what they want. So much so, that the civil rights side is trying to bring peace and end all of the hatred, whereas the "dixie culture" side wanted segregation and hatred. The audience can see here how hard MLK was trying to bring the sides together when he was quoted again in one of his speeches saying, "This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a large house, a great "world house in which we have to live together black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu - a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace." (Carolina Reader 285).

Songs like "Dixie" are still made today by many popular southern country artists. "South Carolina Low Country" by Josh Turner, is song that reminisces on the way people used to live in 

South Carolina. In the song he sings, "I grew up in South Carolina, singing all them bluegrass and country songs" (Turner). This line directly backs the point previously stated proving how southern culture is a very reminiscent and nostalgic one, that constantly impairs people from moving on from the past. He also sings "They fought for a flag, a state, and a way of life. And because of that you will always find, me singing my South Carolina low country" (Turner). This line shows the appreciation many southerners still have of the men who fought for the south in the civil war. Even though they were fighting for was an unjust cause, some southerners still glorify the men for fighting and the cause as well. Songs like this, are very detrimental to southern culture from finally separating itself from the "Dixie" culture that has engulfed the south for almost the past 2 centuries.

As most people can see the "dixie culture" that lives in the south is one that is very hard to change. Especially when the people living down south are constantly reminded of the a culture that they grew up with, as did their parents, grandparents, and all the way back through several   generations. When King gives his speech "The World House" he is trying to reason with the "dixie culture" side because he wants to put an end to this hatred. He talks about how we are meant to all live on Earth together and are supposed to share it with one another peacefully. None of what he talks about really resonated with the people because most of the time they would not even bother listening to what he had to say. It was a struggle for MLK to make any changes because half the people wanted no part of it. 

It was songs like "Dixie" that the southerners used to feel validation for their beliefs and actions. The song and other nostalgic things made it easy for people in the south to think back about the days when they were younger and what their parents and grandparents would have 

thought about the civil rights movement. This made the "dixie culture" people act on things as they would have back in the day and not in the present. The "Dixie" song is so big in the south because of the pride the people have in the song. It is something that they can all use unify them as a region of the country. The song was put to its large scale purpose for the second time ever when it promoted dixie culture and segregation during the civil rights movement. In the end, "Dixie" was used by pro segregation, southerners to help rally the people of the the south to fight MLK and the rest of the civil rights movement. 

