I notice in the Mudcat data base listing of Stephen Foster's "Old Black Joe", that there is a footnote about political correctness. Yes, some of Fosters songs such as My Old Kentucky Home or Suwanee River contain offensive words such as "darkies", the same as Al Jolson's songs which contained the word "mammy" which can definitely be construed as being demeaning to African Americans. However the words of the song "Old Black Joe" in and of themselves do not contain anything demeaning, and somehow to me depicts the sadness and suffering of the old African American. I think the fact that Foster himself was from a pro-slavery family casts this song in a negative light. In a recent swing through Appalachia, I stopped at Bardstown, KY., where My Old Kentucky Home State Park is located. Each summer, there is an outdoor musical pageant that is performed nightly entitled "The Stephen Foster Story" and is built around his many musical compositions. I had the good fortune to see this outstanding production. One of the senior cast members, an African American, is featured in the production singing "Old Black Joe". After the show, I had the opportunity to chat with him at length about whether or not he felt uncomfortable doing this number. He emphaticaly said "not at all". He asked me to analyze the words and defied me to find anything racist about them. Since then, I have sung the song regularly to both, black & white audiences with no negative respose whatsoever, only applause. What are some of your opinions on this matter. SOL ZELLER