Lonesome EJ has touched on a point which seems to be downplayed. The term was used throughout the 19th century and into the WW2 period by blacks, in several connotations. It distinguished them from the whites. It was a term that showed unity against the foe. It could express bitterness, dispair, and the whole range of emotions depending on its context. It is still used in that sense on the prison farms. Hundreds of songs bear witness to this.
With the struggle for equality that grew in strength after WW2, with increasing education and sense of worth, the term became anathema. Now that some measure of equality is being attained (I say some measure because of the disparity in income, which also is a cause of segregation), some blacks are using it again to call attention to their unity, and to the things that still separate them from other parts of American society.