On a thread about morris sides blacking up, is it not a little disingenuous to defend the practice by suggesting that we shouldn't disagree with it whilst there are more serious and overt manifestations of racism out there? "Keep your powder dry, lads" is usually code for "we don't want to have to think about this one". Of course horrorshows like the rise of UKIP and the increase in media fuelled muslim-bashing are far more pressing, but that's for a seperate thread. This is a discussion of a particular "folkloric" practice on a folk forum. You ok with that?

I also cannot emphasise enough that my objection to modern blackface minstrelry morris is not about "being offended" (I'm not, as I said above) and certainly not about "being offended on behalf of black people" - I'm not in the business of patronising people who can speak for themselves should they want to, though there are far bigger fish to fry for this practice to be high on anyone's agenda.

I don't particularly want my cultural heritage represented by dubious customs that should have long been consigned to the dustbin of history - and in fact were, until the re-enactors got their hands on them. White people blacking up to entertain in the 21st century cannot be divorced from the racist legacy of minstrelry even if the people who do it protest vociforously that that is not what they mean. For me, it is simply a case of not in my name. There are plenty of traditional pursuits that have changed beyond recognition or been abandoned to the sea of barbarism where they belong - anyone fancy making the case for bringing back badger baiting, bear baiting, dog fighting, hare coursing, ducking witches and so on because they are (arguably more so than blackfaced morris) part of our tradition? As none of us are impoverished agricultural labourers hiding our identities from the squire when we go begging (if you accept that this is the only historic reason for blacking up and ignore the other factors), there is no reason not to adapt the tradition for the 21st century as morris dancers have clearly done for many other aspects of their hobby.

But I suspect a bunch of blacked-up whiteys who are happy to pose with Cameron wouldn't give a toss about this anyway...