With regard to the subject of "Race & Socially Responsive Posting", I have mentioned on other threads that I cringe when I read posts that contain the "n" word fully spelled out, and/or 29th century and earlier songs written in so-called Black dialect. I have also mentioned that I find comments that spell the racial group "Negro" with a small "n" to be jarring (since the first letter for the names of other group referents such as British, Japanese, Irish, Chinese, and Spanish is routinely capitalized, failure to capitalize the "n" in "Negro" can be interpreted to mean that the writers consider/ed those people to be "less than" those other population groups}. I've been particularly concerned about this small "n" spelling of this retired referent in contemporary comments. My concern caused me to post this comment in this current Mudcat thread: 'Rare' Caribbean shanties of Hugill, etcthread.cfm?threadid=119776&messages=85#2602556.

If I chose to open threads about 19th century or earlier African American "plantation" dance songs, or African American spirituals, or minstrel songs, I've learned to prepare myself to read examples of dialect songs. I understand that it is important to share those examples "as is" (although I have taken to using asterisks when I type the "n" word). That's my choice and I am not saying that everyone should do it.

Yet, I wish that there was an initial statement in those threads or-in the case of refreshed archive threads-i wish that there was a one time statement that the forum is aware that these referents and/or use of dialect may be troubling to some readers, however, for the sake of the folkloric record, they are presented as is in this thread. I'd like there to be such a statement more for individuals visiting this forum than for those of us who regularly posts on this forum. I would like those people (some of whom might be Black and other people of color) to understand that Mudcat members aren't stuck in the past when these types of referents were used by certain populations, but that we are presenting these examples in these ways largely for research purposes.

With regard to being on-topic:

I believe that it is appropriate for people posting to threads that contain Black dialect songs, to write about how those types of songs and referents impact them now regardless of the reasons for them being posted. In addition, I believe it is appropriate to provide information within those threads about whether in that person's experiences, those songs are still sung in dialect by African Africans now. Furthermore, I believe that it is on-topic to offer the opinion that those types of dialect songs or rhymes should be retired from public entertainment concerts (note the word "public". I don't include in this opinion educational classes/sessions or private events).

Again, these are my opinions and I understand that some folks may not agree with them.