Three theories: 1) Jug band music, and it's companion, "Hokum" music, were/are considered sinful ("the banjo/fiddle is the 'devil's riding horse'" used to be a saying), and a whitewash station would be a place where your soul could be at least whitewashed and "hide" the sin of secular music long enough to sneak into "glory." 2) You can't get into heaven if you are a Black person, so you need to be "whitewashed" 3) "Whitewashing" is also a term for hiding disreputable behavior behind some cover-up explanation. Same deal: whitewashing your "sins" might at least get you into the door of heaven.
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