Here's an example of the "why the white folks hate us so" line from an example in Talley's collection:

THE HATED BLACKBIRD AND CROW
Dat Blackbird say unto de Crow:
"Dat's why de white folks hate us so;
For ever since old Adam wus born,
It's been our rule to gedder green corn."

Dat Blackbird say unto de Crow:
"If you's not black, den I don't know.
White folks calls you black, but I say not;
Caze de kittle musn' talk about de pot."

Source: Thomas W. Talley: "Negro Folk Songs, Wise and Otherwise" {Port Washington, N.Y., Kennikat Press, Inc.; 1968, p. 183; originally published,1922,The Macmillan Company}
-snip-

Re: "The Hated Blackbird and Crow" , it seems obvious to me that this rhyme/song is referring to Black people when it refers to birds. There are a number of examples in Talley that document Black preferences-in those days-for light skinned Black people {especially Black women}. However, Talley also includes some examples that document Black putdowns of light skinned Black people, and/or preferences for dark skin Black people.

Given that calling someone black was a negative in those days {and unfortunately, among some Black people these days, it is still considered an insult}, my interpretation of the main point of this rhyme is that African American who has darker skin color than another African American is reminding him or her that regardless of the relative lightness of his skin, he or she is still consider part of the Black race, and therefore is still hated by 'white people' {admittedly this is a generality, but in those days, for safety's sake, imo, it was better to err on the side of caution}.

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In the Nashville Students' Jubilee "Railroad Song" -as posted by Q in his post on 13 Mar 07 - 01:38 PM -the lines are given as "Says dat blackbird to de crow/.../What makes dese white folks love us so?"

However, other versions that I've found-so far- are what makes the Devil hate us so, or what makes the white folks hate us so" or "that's [dat's]why the white folks hate us so".

Q, have you found any other versions that give these lines as "what makes the white folks love us so?"

I'm wondering if the Nashville singers changed that line from 'white folks hate us so' to 'white folks love us so' to make their public concerts in front of white people more acceptable to their audience. Or perhaps the person who transcribed that line changed it for that same purpose???

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Btw, I presume the Nashville Students were African American young adult students from a college in Nashville. But which college were they from?