American Icons: ‘Dixie’

Editor’s note: Our Dixie story was first published in 2011. We updated it last fall. Because of their popularity, we often rebroadcast our American Icons segments. Since updating Dixie, one of the commentators in the Dixie segment, Coleman Hutchison, has been the subject of a sexual harassment investigation at his university and has been suspended from teaching or advising students. We were unaware of that incident until someone brought it to our attention after the segment aired in this week’s show. We’re looking into the information provided to us and will follow up as we learn more.

It’s been a century-and-a-half since a minstrel tune called “Dixie” debuted in New York. The song went viral, and soon North and South alike were whistling “Dixie.”

With the outbreak of the Civil War, “Dixie” became an anthem of the antebellum way of life. And today we are still fighting over “Dixie.” Trey Kay asks why it continues to divide the nation.

(Originally aired April 15, 2011)