Henry Clay Work again--

As I said earlier, he was a very strong abolitionist. But he wrote in the style of his time.

Marching Through Georgia, as you know, salutes the defeat of the South and the end of slavery. Yet some of the lyrics are unquestionably offensive today:

"How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground
While we were marching through Georgia".

You already have big trouble singing that song in large parts of the South (still)--Sherman is not their favorite person.

Now it appears there are also large portions of the North where you'd best not sing it.

This seems the height of irony.

I submit you should be able to sing it (at least in the North) if you explain before singing it what I said above---that Work was a very strong abolitionist, but wrote in the style of his time---and that times have definitely changed.

Otherwise is this song not to be sung at all--or bowdlerized by changing words?