OHL's Guelph Storm changes iconic mascot tune after confronting its racist roots

The Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League will no longer play the iconic Cotton Eye Joe at its games after reviewing the tune's racist origins.

According to the vice-president of business operations, Matt Newby, the organization received an email questioning its use of the song.

After initial research, the club consulted with the Guelph Black Heritage Society in late November on the roots of the song to determine if it would be appropriate to continue playing at games.

"If somebody sits at the game with his or her mother or father and turns to them and says, 'What does Cotton Eye Joe mean?' that's where we have the issue," said Newby. "I think that's the grey area and that's kind of where we're reasonably disgusted."

According to Newby, the Storm uses a 2002 dance remix of the 1995 version by the Swedish group Rednex.

Many are familiar with Rednex's Cotton Eye Joe, a techno-country remix of the original Cotton-Eyed Joe, a traditional American South country folk song that has seen multiple variations throughout the years.

While the exact origin of the song is murky, it has roots in pre-Civil War slavery and alludes to the history of enslaved Black people being forced to pick cotton on southern plantations, according to the Guelph Black Heritage Society (GBHS).

The song has been used during each game's third period for over 20 years, according to Newby. Now, the Guelph Storm is searching for a replacement song and has taken to Twitter polls to help guide its reasoning.

"As silly as it sounds, it's just a huge part of our game, and whether we're losing or whether we're winning — we've had seasons where we've done both — for the kids that are there, that's like a highlight of that game," said Newby. "We're trying to find the replacement, we want to make sure we get it right."

The executive director and social justice initiatives co-ordinator at GBHS said the song change signals the start of a new partnership between the two organizations that has been attempted for years.

"I think what's really interesting to acknowledge is that for years we've been trying to do partnerships with them and had no result," said Kayla (Kween) Gerber.

"It wasn't until 2020 and the momentum of change being seen in our community.... I think that allowed us space to be reached out to as opposed to when we've reached out and never heard back."

Looking ahead to Black History Month, Gerber said GBHS hopes to work with the Storm to arrange hockey games, fundraisers and start more educational campaigns for hockey fans.

As a hockey and sports fan herself, Gerber said the move is encouraging to see.