The minstrel days and "coon songs" are from different eras. Minstrelsy depicted African American slave (and freemen) as childlike and simple, in patronizing fashion. Once slavery ended, and ex-slaves became economic rivals in America, the image changed, and paternalism ended as "coon songs" were born.

So I sing antebellum songs (like "Kingdom Coming" and "Yellow Rose of Texas" -- and the "soldier" version is NOT to avoid saying "darky," but because it became a soldier song, right up into the Civil War), and I am willing to sing "darky" in actual language of the day. But I avoid those where the image is more negative, and will not sing "nigger," though I've been known to change the term where I can.

And "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah" is NOT originally from "I've Been Working on the Railroad," but is instead a minstrel song with much use of the term "nigger."

Bot