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The song was one of a number of popular minstrel songs that sentimentalized life in the Old South and perpetuated a myth of Black nostalgia for life in slavery on plantations. The song’s lyrics are sung from the perspective of a freedperson longing to return to the days of slavery: “Carry me back to Old Virginny, There’s where the cotton and the corn and taters grow, There’s where the birds warble sweet in the springtime , There’s where I labor’d so hard for old massa…” In 1970, L. Douglas Wilder began his term as the first African American elected to the Senate of Virginia since Reconstruction by criticizing “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” in a speech in which Wilder, a grandson of enslaved people, described how he and his wife felt upon hearing his colleagues sing the song at an official event. He wrote in his memoir,

United statesJimmy deanStephenh martinSteve bassettL douglas wilderRobbin thompsonJamesa blandSenate of virginiaDoug wilder addresses the senateLost causeOld virginnyBlack stephen fosterCarry me backAmerican civil warOld southWilder addresses