I was once asked not to sing a mildly-racist sea song at a
particular venue (which happened to be a National Park).

The request was made by a Federal employee. I considered the
request, and finally made my decision in light of the following:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In other words, in asking that the song not be sung, the requestor
actually mandated that it must be sung!

The problem with being a singer of sea-songs in their original
contexts is that they're all reflections of their origins; folks
who were, in our terms, racist, sexist, and all. They were also
themselves poor, exploited, and downtrodden. So there.

The one thing I won't do is use the N-word (which appears in a lot
of sea-songs and even Robert Service poems). Why? Because it's
become such a deal-breaker that it shuts people's ears and opens
their mouths. It just no longer has any context. I will (and have)
argue for the same reason that others (including trendy teens)
ought not to use it. (But I also tell teens that they should
get 'that's so gay' out of their vocabulary as well.)

As for Bowdlerizing...I generally won't sing the filthy stuff
to kids.

But to adults...hell, have you all watched HBO lately?

I think that people who are doing a parody, such as the racist
song above, ought to be smart enough to say 'look folks, it's a
parody.'

At the same time I (at 5'2") still hold a grudge against Randy
Newman.