Psychological Properties

The Racist Song That Has Dug Deep Roots in American CultureEmily Bingham’s “My Old Kentucky Home” describes how a song that sentimentalized the slaveholding South became a kind of anthem.

Misplaced nostalgia.

I grew up in Kentucky and must have sung this song 500 times. Because I'm a decent singer -- of approximately 10 contiguous notes! -- I still get asked to sing this song, and I've found it quite moving to do so and/or to hear it. But when I read Ms. Bingham's analysis of what the song actually means, i.e., a sentimental journey back to the sweetness of slavery in KY, I'm not sure i'm going to be singing or listening to it with enthusiasm ever again.

Nostalgia is derived from the Greek words nostos ‘return home’ + algos ‘pain’. It is a psychological state of "acute homesickness." The whole point of identifying and confronting the Zombie is to assert that a ghoul is nothing to be homesick for. Time for it to die.