A considerable number of Azizi's classic "African-American" songs have a very mixed origin, surely. We would most of us, I imagine, if asked to throw songs quickly into a "black" or "white" box, unhesitingly file the great linear ballads of death "Frankie and Johnnie", "Stack o'Lee" or "St James' Infirmary" in the black category. But a more detailed analysis of their structure, melodic and also (to a lesser extent) lyrical content, would surely suggest a big percentage(indeed maybe a majority) of "white" material.` But this doesnt stop them being black folksongs. Or white songs, either. they are clearly both, depending on the version, the performers, and the audience.
    But I am not suggesting Azizi's approach is not valid, of course it is. Folk songs, by their nature, reflect the culture they come from incredibly accurately, and you can't study them without putting them in the ethnic context of their creation and and performance. And I do wish that people nowadays were as keen as the older scholars to pass on information on this kind of background of songs. I think Azizi is one hundred percent right to be a bit miffed at seeing music filched from a black cultural backround and subtly rebranded. (It happens across other cultural/racial borders as well of course, as many discussions on "Celtic or English" and similar topics show).
    People often delight in pointing out that it is impossible to determine the origins of folk music. True, but that does not imply that it is not a fit subject to study. Travelling hopefully has always been better than arriving. Keep it coming, Azizi!