I have ALWAYS sung *buck nigger* and will never sing Arkansas farmer or any other modern substitute.
Johnny Come Down To Hilo was a shanty with a very negro flavour about the verses, and often included verses from Camptown Races. To omit the non-PC verses is to deny the heritage of this fine song.
In the shanty "Lowlands Low" (fast version) there is a verse "There's a nigger howling at the main-topmast". Same goes for THAT shanty.
As for the so called racism aboard ship - rowlocks! The crew would be split more for the differences in shantying than for any other reason.
I have no doubt that some sailors were racist, but by & large they were far more tolerant than landsmen.
I hate it when a shanty gets mauled about by the folk brigade, who alter tune, verse, and metre, just to make it singable in their local club, or worse, on record. Bending over backwards to look as if you are not racist often has the opposite effect, and can result in future singers getting a totally wrong impression of a song.
This part of "The Folk Process" I can do without.
I would also venture to add that the singing of shanties is, and always has been, entirely non-PC, and long may it continue in this far too finicky age!