Should rugby anthem Sweet Chariot be banned?

THE Rugby Football Union is to review the singing of Swing Low Sweet Chariot at matches because the song’s roots are based on escaping black slavery. Does that mean we should also review blues music, which is rooted in slavery? Many world-renowned artists have performed songs in the wellknown call and response blues style originating in the cotton fields of the U.S. Deep South. Are we in danger of wiping out this rich heritage from which most of today’s pop music is derived?

RICHARD BURRIDGE, Oxford.

I HAVE always been bemused by the England rugby supporters using this song as their anthem because it’s a funeral dirge. As the manager of a sporting team, the only way I’d use it would be if my team were in terminal decline.

MEL DAWSON, Banbury, Oxon.

THIS song shows desperately unfortunate people had the ability to produce words and music that people still love.

A. STILL, Tolleshunt Knights, Essex.

FOR years, Swing Low Sweet Chariot has been sung, with somewhat lewd actions, standing on a chair with a pint in rugby clubs throughout the land. No thought whatsoever was given to its origins.

MICHAEL BUSWELL, Settle, N. Yorks.

HOW tragic if the most hauntingly beautiful of all the great spirituals became another casualty of our self-appointed thought police. And how ironic if its simple, deeply moving cadences sung in unity by thousands at Twickenham and worldwide should be silenced.

ALAN KIPPS, Hadleigh, Essex.

A BAN would be a gross imposition on the rights of the individual. In any case, I can’t see the fans taking any notice.

D. EDWARDS, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.