Thanks to everyone who helped on this one. I do appreciate it.

Terry,

Forgive me if I seem clueless here. Are you serious or being ironic and witty? I can't tell.

I don't sing "Darkies" in Old Man River and I can't say I have ever heard done so. The onliest way I have ever heard it was .

"The Dark folk work on the Mississippi, "The Dark folk work while the white folk play."

Regarding peoples of the Indo-European racial groupings I have trouble separating races from that group. I don't believe that the Romany people are anymore a race apart than are the Jews, Kurds, or Arabs. (I may be wrong)But I believe that they and we white American types are all from the same racial glot.

Perhaps calling someone a Gypsy is insulting but I don't believe its a racial insult or even a racist comment. I would think its the same as calling someone a Polock or a Pommie Git, (My spelling may be off here.) Are those racist remarks? I just don't know.

Should we then abandon the songs like The Gypsy Rover or The Raggle Taggle Gypsies or Gypsy Davy? I will have a hard time selling the idea to the guys in the band that we are now singing " The Itinerrant Rover" or "The Raggle Taggle Tinkers ". Not all Tinkers are Romany and not all Romany people are Tinkers.

In any case if I use Gypsy in a song I have no intent on using it insultingly or with malice.

Don