As many of you know, Splash Mountain has long been one of the most popular attractions at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The ride was based on the 1946 landmark Disney film "Song of the South" and tells the stories of Brer Rabbit running away from home and being pursued by Brer Fox and Brer Bear through audio-animatronics. How is that racist? It is not racist at all! Some just want you to believe that the ride and the movie are racist.

If you still want to believe the lies saying “it is racist”, then let me tell you about a well-known, misunderstood movie that was made in 1946 as well as where it took place. I am also going to tell you about the people that were behind it and the legacies that unfortunately got tarnished are those of the people that worked on the movie. I know what you are thinking. Just what is that movie called?  That movie is called "Song of the South". It takes place in Georgia during the Reconstruction era, long after the conclusion of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery.  That movie is based on the Uncle Remus Stories, which were collected by Joel Chandler Harris, who published those historic folktales into books in 1881 so they could be preserved for future generations.

I bet you are thinking, so it’s still racist, isn't it?  I can assure you that it is not racist. The question is on what the character of Uncle Remus was based on. That is still not racism.  People that are wanting you to believe that it is racism are not looking at history. Slavery was abolished in 1865 by Abraham Lincoln, and Joel Chandler Harris met the man who inspired Uncle Remus after the Emancipation Proclamation. He was a gardener named George Terrell and they met between “1867 and 1870”, so does that make the gardener a slave?  Not anymore. The state of Georgia was one of the ones that “ratified the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.”

Now that the brief history lesson is out of the way, here is just some in the very long list of legacies that were tarnished: James Baskett (who was the first African American man to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Uncle Remus); Nick Stewart (who was a philanthropist who owned the Ebony Showcase Theatre and the first legitimate black-owned theater in Los Angeles where he helped people of color to come up in the entertainment industry only to have that theater stolen from him by the Los Angeles government in 1998); Hattie McDaniel (who was the first African American woman to an Oscar for her performance in "Gone with the Wind"); Johnny Lee; Glen Leedy; Bobby Driscoll; Luana Patten; Ruth Warrick and Walt Disney himself (who has been falsely accused of racism when he never had a racist bone in his body).

Erasing all traces of Song of the South from the parks was a true act of racism. It was foolish to pander to an extremely tiny group of "Disney haters" that does not understand the stories or the histories to re-theme such a nostalgic ride. Retheming Splash Mountain did not change history or make the world's problems go away! It only encouraged the "easily offended" to continue making desperate attempts at finding offense in additional attractions. To change them would be to remove pieces of our history and culture! The ill-advised decision to retheme Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure was a huge mistake that is already causing The Walt Disney Company tons of money, further destroying its already-tattered reputation, causing shrinking attendance at the Disney parks and causing more and more anger, sadness and division among people. 

For those reasons and more, I am calling on The Walt Disney Company to close Tiana's Bayou Adventure and bring Splash Mountain back to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland.