this is somewhat of a digression, but related in a way - just as it is difficult to compare any other 'ethnic cleansing' to the Nazi Holocaust, it is very difficult to compare any other American anti-immigrant prejudice to the suffering of slavery. Part of that is that slavery is a horrible condition that most immigrants didn't suffer. There was indentured servitude, and there were abuses in that system, people sufferred, but they were essentially free to enter into this contract. ALL immigrant groups were stereotyped at one time or another, and many of the stereotypes that were created and perpetuated in the early-mid 19th c. also spawned music, that, as well as 'Coon Songs', were picked up by late 19th - early 20th c. music hall and vaudeville performers, who also often dressed and made up as the sterotypical 'Mick', 'Paddy', 'Hans', etc. These songs still offend some Irish, German, etc. descendants, but in most cases, these descendants have not had to suffer, up to this very day, the blind hatred of racial prejudice that many, if not all, blacks are subject to. As I have said earlier, I am in favor of historical accuracy, and against sweeping the past under the rug for the sake of temporary and artificial 'peace'. The bottom line though is, 'no justice, no peace'. Some contemporary writers still espouse the idea that many blacks on the plantation were happy, and better off than they would have been in Africa. Some of the stereotypical minstrel songs perpetuate these ideas. Should they therefore not be sung, ever again? NO. But, they should, if sung, be put in context, and they should be part of a general apology to the descendants of slaves (all blacks in this country are not necessarily descendants of slaves, but they are treated as such, and deserve an apology, and ALL Americans, no matter when they arrived here, benefit in some way from the riches that slavery produced, IMHO). We claim to celebrate diversity these days, and we celebrate ethnicity, we have our S. Pat's day, Oktoberfest, Columbus Day, but do we as a people celebrate the African-American? Not yet! Juneteenth is a Late Night joke to most Americans, if they have heard about it at all, or they have been fed by the media and have adopted a stereotypical view of it as 'rowdy', 'licentious', 'dangerous', 'out of control', etc. I am glad to see threads like this on a public forum, and especially as it is directly related to music, but I am sure my views are not the same as anothers and I respect that. Sensitivity to others views, not blind 'political correctness' is what many in this thread have espoused and I embrace that.