For years I’ve been advocating and pushing for a change to why seems like a staple of summertime fun and childhood memories. When kids hear the Mr. Softee truck rolling down the city streets, it’s that jingle that catches their attention. However, where kids hear the sweet sounds of the ice cream truck, I hear nothing more than the racist tune it originally hails from.

Many are unaware or simply choose to look the other. The original title for what we know as the ice cream truck song today was “N***a love a Watermelon, Ha! Ha! Ha! The song was originally recorded by Harry C. Browne and released in 1916. The song stole its melody from an early 19th century tune called "Turkey in the Straw," which is the song's more commonly known name now. Ice cream parlors would play popular minstrel songs of the time, and somehow this one song became the favorite and is still played on many ice cream trucks today.

Although many can turn the other cheek, I can’t continue living in a world where we fight for equality and basic rights and yet still have a racist jingle playing up and down our streets. We must acknowledge and change this for the better. There are other jingles already being used by other trucks, (such as “The Entertainer” which was composed and written by famous ragtime black pianist Scott Joplin.)

I hope you all join me in this fight. I want the children of tomorrow to grow up in a world where racism isn’t used as decoration or sprinkled on for commercialism. Please helps me in shutting down this racist song for good!