We've had many discussions here on the question of presently offensive lyrics in older songs, and a great variety of views have been presented. Thus, I was a bit surprised, bemused, and curious, to see the question considered in today's New York Times Magazine. Here's the pertinent part of the ethics column. (Any typos are mine.)

The New York Times Magazine, 19 May 2002
The Ethicist by Randy Cohen

"A Singing Offense"

"Ah, yes, the Stephen Foster problem. Its solution depends on whom you're playing for. You do no harm to sing the originals if you're home alone. Ethics is concerned with the effects of one's actions on others: no others, no unethical behavior. Thus you ought not perform these songs for a skinhead crowd eager to hold a racist sing-along and rock-throw. But even if you're performing for a genial and rock-free audience, you should skip the disturbing parts of this repertory, with a description of the changes you've made and explanation of why. Honesty compels you to give the audience some sense of the original odious lyrics: discretion compels allusion rather than expression. To spring bigotry set to music on the unwary is to violate an implicit agreement between performer and listener. You wouldn't offer to provide a movie for a 5-year-old's birthday party and show the kids Psycho.

"Even when you are only playing with fellow musicians, you have an obligation not to perform these songs naively but with some understanding of their historical meaning. And you would be wise to consider the coarsening effects of casually using such epithets on your own sensibilities.

"You may sing the unallowed originals if you're performing for an audience that knows what it's getting into. It's important to preserve and understand the relics of our past, even the most shameful aspects of that past. No good is served by creating a cleaned-up, artificial America. You need to simply make sure that an audience has a choice about what it will be hearing. If it has been alerted -- via your posters and program, perhaps -- and wishes to listen to historically accurate material, then discuss and sing. That is, give it not just the songs but some historical context."