"I think it gets called folk music,"
It's called folk music because it was made and sung by 'the folk' - the 'ordinary' people
That's how it has been documented since the 1830s when it was first applied to its sister art 'Folk' lore and 'folk' tales and 'folk' dance and all the other artistic related 'folk' arts
Someone with your social and political outlook on life should be proud of that Al - not trying to explain it away
Jim