My Old Kentucky Home

So at the end of the Kentucky game the whole crowd sang along My Old Kentucky Home. The song itself has some problems. If you look at all the lyrics it looks like its a song about slaves, perhaps even slaves that had just been sold to someone away from Kentucky. So the lyrics are a bit troubling. In fact, some time ago the Kentucky legislature officially changed one of the words from "darkies" to "people".

That aside, to be in the arena during the song, you can see the feelings Kentuckians have for their state. That is, in part, the reason for the Civil War.  Now most people feel a committment first to their country and then maybe their state. That wasn't always true in the past. Robert E. Lee fought for the South because he couldn't bring himself to fight against his home state of Virginia.It seems like state loyalty is still strong in all the southern states. People that still fly confederate flags say its not about slavery - its about their love for the south. I think I get that better now.

There is a house that they say Stephen Foster visited and based the song on. I saw it, but you had to pay to go inside, so I passed on that. Pictured below, it does look like a typical southern mansion.