Curly (for kinky) was used before nappy was invented. Was 'curly' racist? Perhaps I should finish that verse:

Oh chocolate drop, that's me-
Jes' 'cause my hair is curly,
Jes' 'cause my teeth are pearly,
Jes' because I always wear a smile
An' dress up right in the latest style
'Cause I'm glad I'm livin'
An' take my troubles all with a smile
Just because my color shade is different
Maybe that's why they call me "shine."

The Cecil Mack-Lou Brown-Ford Dabney song from 1910 is posted somewhere in Mudcat.

The above lines are from Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra as I remember them. I may not remember them corectly, but they should be within the limits of variation-