I know a lot of songs that use the word "darkey", most of them by Stephen Foster. As far as I have been able to find out, this was a polite term. Foster himself was sympathetic to the negroes, and an abolitionist. So I continue to sing "darkey" where the original song says darkey. I hate the idea of changing the words of a perfectly good song. So far, I haven't had any complaints, in fact, I can see the audience' attention peak at that moment. They know they are getting an authentic rendition. What say others? == Johnny