Goodness me what a cafuffle. Has the world gone mad?
All this debate and argument over something so completely 'innocent'.

No morris side that blacks up does it intentionally to offend black people. Good grief! They do it mainly so that they have a veneer of disguise which certainly has a clear and well documented tradition with both morris and mumming sides so they could dance out or collect 'offerings'and hopefully not be recognised,especially in small,close knit communities and villages.
The anonymity and mystery being part of the allure and a cloak to hide behind for nervous or bashful participants and it was a purely innocent colour readily available in coal dust or by burning corks etc so that is why the colour black was used. It was readily available and for the working man it was cheap.
They're innocent.

If any morris side really intended to provoke or incite racial hatred don't you think they would have chosen something far more obvious like the garb of the klu klux klan or something.
Blacking up has absolutely nothing to do with pretending to be or emulating a dark skinned race.I don't think for one minute that any side has been influenced by the Black and White Minstrels which is a comical parody beneath most self respecting individuals.
It's innocent.

The famous Bacup Coconut Dancers are blacked up and wear strange red and white hooped skirts because I believe they are copying an ancient Morrocan/Moorish tradition (which many people believe is the origin and birth place of all morris dancing anyway)
Innocent.

Now in all innocence please consider this and throw it into the melting pot. A few years ago, I'm not sure when, at the Rochester Sweeps Festival the BBC in all their correct PC wisdom decided that they could not film kids blacked up as sweeps because it might offend ethnic minorities in our cherished,cosmopolitan and nanny state country.
These young children were distraught and gutted by this decision because they would'nt appear on telly.
They,nor their parents that innocently blacked up their sweet little faces, thought for one single second that this might cause offence and had done the same ritual for many years at the festival.
After all if you are representing an innocent depiction of children sent up chimneys, guess what they will get black from the soot!
We all know now that this was a despicable trade in child labour but it was all done in fun at this festival - in the vein of a Dickensian characterture or a light hearted image from Mary Poppins.
Innocent.

Guess what,in conclusion, the clear message is that it is all 'innocent'.

Sometimes when blindly following a 'tradition' some people might follow it or ressurect it without knowing the real intent or symbolism behind the tradition but today in this century I do not believe that there is any real or sustained intention to upset our coloured brethren. Or if it does occur it is all done in complete innocence.