Les.
To avoid more "Going around and around" let me summarise my reasons for disagreeing with a lot, (though not all off your Numbered comments)
1).The evidence for the "Roots" of Black faces lying with Minstrelsy, is by no means conclusive, on the contrary there is considerable evidence that blackened faces have been used as a disguise in many other seasonal rituals, prior to the popularity of minstrelsy, the assertion that it is always racist is also shaky, it may appear so to modern sensibilities, but as an above poster says, it may also be seen as a way of white performers cashing in on the success and popularity of black artists, without necessarily any deliberate intention to demean or insult them, it would be interesting to see how black performers were viewed by the public and white colleagues. From what I've read of music hall history, there were quite a few black performers and in the main they seem to have been very popular.

2)....unfortunately true in the main, although the costumes historically worn did seem to feature an element of fancy dress and did include tatters worn on the jackets or shirts, in Motley Morris ALL our original dances were based on known dances or constructed from collected fragments, and our instruments were, concertinas, melodeons, and fiddles, all instruments found in mainstream Morris. the tunes we used were the ones associated with the collected information, or popular tunes from the Victorian period.

3/4 you said it, almost no one is offended, and in the main those offended seem to be white people taking offence on behalf of black people, certainly many black people will have experienced racism in some form, but I would think that the majority would be more concerned about Real discrimination in Housing, employment and similar real-life issues than worrying about a few people wearing make up and cavorting around outside a pub a few times a year.

5, don't quite understand your point here Les, I don't believe that its a case of not caring if people are offended, and I believe that the actual numbers offended are smaller than you might imagine. Whether we like it or not,and for whatever historical reasons, Border Morris WAS danced in the main with black faces, and if we are going to present an accurate picture of the tradition/style call it what you will we should present it "warts and all" Explaining if necessary to audiences the historical setting in which it existed.