Jed, we try to understand why people feel the way they do, and sometimes get a clue. Sometimes we just have to believe them when they say something hurts. If the song is important enough to sing despite the fact it hurts others, than go ahead and do it. Those people will not understand why the song means so much to you any more than you understand why it hurts them.

You can NOT get away with telling people they don't have a right to feel a certain way. That's what happened in this thread, and why everybody got so pissed off.

Try singing the song this way, and see how far you get in an audience not made up of KKK members:
Mrs. Stein spends her winters in Miami
And she lets her home to tenants while she's gone
And last year she let her small home to some black folks
With a discount if they'd take care of her lawn

Well, the father, he swore they would be careful
They would mow her lawn and prune her roses too
Yes he swore they would be the best caretakers
Taking care as only black folks seem to do...

...I'm not going to go any farther. Imagine the rest with stereotypes plugged in - perhaps something about watermelons and fried chicken. Does it still seem harmless?