Is the first verse of this now completely unusable? Is it Racist to sing it, or unacceptably Politically Correct not to?

The sensitive can look the other way for a line or two....

"I never seen the like since I was born/A big buck nigger with his seaboots on"

In context: I remember being horrified (around 1968) when my mother called the colour of my new coat "nigger brown", but I've known that words to the song for even longer.

In Stormalong John's "Liverpool" collection, they claim not to present "the thoroughly well scrubbed and disinfected ditties taught in primary schools" - but miss out the first verse. I think I learned it in primary school...

Fortunately, not being a performer means I don't have to face up to this dichotomy between historical truth and modern sensitivities - but should I?