Thanks to everybody responding seriously to my Dixie question. Sorry I didn't manage to respond before the thread deteriorated into a flame war and finally was closed down.

The situation was as I suspected, there is nothing in the lyrics that is unequivocally racist or celebrates slavery in any form. Thus, the question remains: should good songs be abandoned by good people if they are hi-jacked by nasty performers for foul political ends? (I understand that "Amazing Graze" is frequently used by the KKK...)

My feelings is that songs that are not inherently racist/bigoted can be sung, and should be sung even at the possible offence of some people. I'm sure a couple of sentences will suffice to explain that the performance is anti-racist, seeking to reclaim the songs to the realm of political decency.