Hi Jeri, see ya in spring & hope you had a good trip back. It's not so much the song , the singer or the writer, it was the society that was represented (or resented). A white guy unaware of the plight of the slave (as most were at the time, due to wearing blinders), writing from his own social veiw, about a cultural group, of which he did not understand. His lack of such would help to continue the same veiws held by his peers, therefore reinforcing a myth & misconception of this culture, which would be continuiously be reinforced time & time again, until as already said above, it didn't happen, as they are now saying about Hitler. As for the colonizing colonist, they did pretty well passing on their songs, wealth, good genes, tradition & etc. while depriving others of theirs. As an invading group we certainly were met with less harshness, than had we imposed ourselves on another colonizing society (say England). As for the minstrel show/song they were another sad misrepresention of this society that lasted around 100 yrs. , that was developed by blacks (but not for blacks), and came to be taken as a truth by many black & white over the years. Al Jolson became darker the lighter he got.