The problem I have with this whole discussion (and I apologize for getting into it so late) is this. In my opinion, the song is not racist. Nothing is racist unless it is used in a way that intentionally provokes those feelings in someone else. If I sing a song where the land of cotton to me means the area I grew up in, or Old times they are not forgotten reminds me of my childhood and someone listening interpruts it as racist and asks me to stop singing it, am I a racist if I continue singing?   Of course not!! I'm pretty damn insensitive but racist? No. I don't agree with the people who say that folks who are offended by things like this song should just get over it, but that doesn't make them racists!

Racism is not a song, a book, a word or phrase, a movie or anything else you can see or hold. It is a trait, that far too many folks still to this day have. But the song? It doesn't become racism until it is sung by a racist......

Frank