Sadly I found even the most level-headed academic voice in this programme (Merv Davey) to be a bit disingenuous when he suggested that the singing of the clearly racist song "Uncle Ned" was not a normal part of Darkie Day but only a reaction to outsider interference and an expression of disenfranchisement.

I'm not saying there's no element of truth to that in that it does serve as a way of saying "F- You" to outsiders, PC and every aspect of modernity that causes people hardship, but he was clearly biased and trying to present the event as intrinsically benign and that it in any case be just "left alone".

Isn't the real issue basically that when there were few black people in Britain there was no-one around to be offended by these traditions, and people simply resent having to alter their practices because that's now changed?