Thanks for the plug and the information, Justin!

If I understand Barry Finn correctly, I agree with his objections as applied to "Massa's in the Cold Cold Ground" or even "Swanee River". I just don't see that they apply to "Old Black Joe". Of course I agree that it should not be presented as part of American black tradition!

It's ironic to see Coralena object to rewriting folk songs--where do they come from, after all? But I know that's not what she meant. If a small change will retain the essence of a song but make it unobjectionable, I say perform the changed version, but keep the original in the history books. However, most people know songs from performances and recordings, not from history books. So maybe performers should say a word or two about the change that was made.