*Notice that I use the term "African American" instead of the retired referent "Negro" which is used in most of these books.

It's preferable to spell the word "Negro" with an upper case "n" although in some of those books that referent is spelled with a lower case "n". At least by the 1950s among most Black Americans, spelling "Negro" with a lower case "n" was and still is considered to be very offensive.

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This discussion thread inspired me to publish the following post on my cultural blog:
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/studying-african-american-folk-music.html "Studying African American Folk Music (with a partial reference list & five video examples)

Thank you!

Azizi Powell