Illustrator J.J. Gould’s 1930 drawing of Amos (r) and Andy

What is it about the American psyche that captures its mind with icons, songs, chants, shows and symbols and then forces it to re-examine whether it’s politically correct or racially offensive?

Within the past month a chant associated with the New Orleans Saints, “Who Dat” and a rap number “Pants on the Ground” associated with “American Idol” captured the psyche of the nation to the point that marketers are looking into how they can cash in on the craze of these rather shallow lyrics.

Although both chants have racial overtones, they have spread across the nation as though they were caught in a back draft of a major conflagration before anyone could examine whether they were politically correct.

The ‘Who Dat’ chant now associated with the Saints who are headed to the Super Bowl this weekend, actual originated in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

A common tag line in the days of Negro minstrel shows was: “Who dat?” answered by “Who dat say who dat?”

The Saints chant is: “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?  Who dat? Who dat?”

Last month the NFL sent cease and desist letters to several Louisiana t-shirt shop owners ordering them to cease producing t-shirts bearing the phrase “Who dat”  The NFL claimed they owned the trademark.  The threat of boycott on NFL licensed goods most likely caused them to back off on claiming the trademark.

The Saints organization also claimed they owned the trademark  but later released their claim to WhoDat, Inc, conceding they owned the phrase.

So far the obvious racial overtones have not surfaced.

But it is reminiscent of the old Amos ‘n’ Andy situation comedy based on stock sketch comedy characters but set in an African-American community and popular here from the 1920’s through the 1950’s.

The show was extremely successful, but many thought the depiction of African-Americans in the show was racially offensive.

Racially offensive chants, remarks and symbols seem to be cyclical in America, but never seem to go away.

Take for example Chief Illiniwek, the mascot and official symbol of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Chief Illiniwek was associated with the University’s athletic programs from 1926 to 2007.  It was portrayed by a white student dressed in Sioux regalia and intended to honor the Illiniwek, the state’s namesake. Several Native American groups, other people of color and white people felt that the symbol/mascot was a misappropriation of indigenous cultural figures and that it perpetuated stereotypes about Native American peoples.

The NCAA termed Chief Illiniwek a “hostile or abusive” mascot and image in 2005 and banned the university from hosting postseason activities as long as it continued to use the mascot and symbol.  The university has stopped using the mascot and symbol.

In contrast to this, NCAA when challenged, granted a waiver to its policy of “hostile or abusive” Native American names and imagery to Florida State who calls itself the Seminoles and uses a mascot in Native America garb similar to Chief Illiniwek.  The inconsistency of the NCAA policy is bizarre. They say the waiver was granted because of the unique relationship between the university and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Meanwhile “General” Larry Platt a 63-year-old black man injected himself into the hearts of Americans with his ‘Pants on the Ground’ audition on American Idol.  The rap verse accompanied with dance goes like this: “Pants on the ground! Pants on the ground! Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!”

As the story goes, the song was just another one of his causes.  He said that he and his civil rights colleagues sacrificed too much for today’s youth to walk around with sagging pants.

The Green Brothers claim they did a song “Back Pockets on the Floor” and thought “Pants on the Ground”  might be a take off on their song, but Platt said he was inspired to write it after seeing a young father with his jeans below his waist.

And, as expected fans can now buy “Pants on the Ground” t-shirts that read, “Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground.”

The antic took hold on news programs, and talk shows; quarterback Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings did his own version of “Pants on the Ground” for players in the locker room and then Jimmy Fallon, performing as Neil Young, did his rendition and the rest is history. Today, “Who Dat?” and “Pants on the Ground!” are household chants.  How long the chants will last is a matter of speculation; but as far as when they will be recognized as ‘racially offensive’ or ‘politically incorrect’ by some group is just a matter of time.

Nevertheless, this week on Super Bowl Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts play the New Orleans Saints, there will be many a ‘Pants on the Ground’ and ‘Who Dat, Who Dat’ chants for the Saints.