Ok Henry, if you have decided Blackface minstrelsy was not racist I simply cannot agree.

"I have never denied this connection, indeed it seems obvious if you know anything about the tremendous popularity of minstrel shows and there effect on the mainstream popular music of the time."

Spot on from what I have read.

I will say again:
They dance dances they have made up, to tunes that were almost certainly never used for morris and on instruments sometimes invented in the 20C. They wear costumes sometimes unrelated to the custom they claim to be reviving. But they hang on to the bit of tradition that has one foot in 19C music hall racism.

Best wishes