Azizi -

I don't believe any topics should be out of bounds in a university setting. To give an example what this can lead to, in a school I once attended, an instructor was chastised for presenting documentary evidence from the WPA about the daily lives of enslaved African-Americans. It just happened to be an excellent source to understand the experience from the point of view of former slaves, but because some students may have found the material offensive, an administrator came down on that professor.

Les -

Regarding offence and conceding the point, I don't know if you are refering to the possible offensiveness or blacking-up or lesser subject of my possibly offensive tone. Whatever the case, I'll say what I said before - there is no right not to be offended. As I've also said, many things offend me. I am offended, for example, by evangelical Christians who claim divine mandate for aggressive wars on the other side of the globe, but I would not shut down their churches.

Ruth Archer -

I have tried to answer your question as thoughtfully as possible. I'll try on last time: Again, it depends on the context. I would not show this material to young children because it is not age-appropriate. I thought I made this clear, but perhaps not.

"If there was a display of this kind of dancing in an inner-city area, how would it go down? In my opinion it would be taken very badly and many people would be offended, because as i see it, it is a backward step."

Off topic and not relevant. This event is not held in an inner-city area, it's held in Padstow. It's a local event not meant to offend anyone. I highly doubt any of the particpants are planning an excursion to any place where the locals would be upset by the proceedings.

Finally, the deeper roots of blacking up are antecedent to minstrelsy. Those who black up nowadays do not identify with minstrelsy, as far as I can tell. I would grant them enough respect to take them at their word.

And that's it for me. If you want the last word, Ruth Archer or anyone else, go ahead and take it.