Recently, on eBay, the sheet music for "Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose" went up for auction. My grandmother used to sing it to me as a child. I can remember thinking how beautiful it was that the child's mother thought she was a rose. So I go the eBay section and find many postings for "coon" music. Almost without exception, the sellers apologized in advance for inflicting this racist propaganda on the buyers.

I bought "Rose" and found myself explaining to the seller why I wanted it in the first place. Now the question is do I hum it softly in the confines of my bathroom or dare to sing it aloud?