[livius]

One thing they don’t realize (aside from the fact that Stephen Foster had never seen the Suwannee River and was not even remotely from the South) is that Foster was actually pretty revolutionary because he attributed normal human feelings to blacks in his lyrics. The songs were not meant to ridicule. They were in dialect, not uncommon for any group at that time (stories and popular songs were written in “Irish” and “Italian” dialects, etc.), but he treated the black people like anybody else: falling in love, longing for home, etc.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Exactly. “Old Black Joe” is a case in point. But Foster’s songs are probably a bit to subtle for today’s social justice warriors. Out of ignorance about Foster and his works, they will see only what they want to see, and they won’t like it.

Look at how “Huckleberry Finn” has been criticized, even banned, because of the use of certain racial terminology, especially in regard to Jim. But, by my reading of the book, Jim is the only truly unconflicted decent and moral person in it, and is its hero.

[nuke_road_warrior]

One thing they don’t realize (aside from the fact that Stephen Foster had never seen the Suwannee River and was not even remotely from the South) is that Foster was actually pretty revolutionary because he attributed normal human feelings to blacks in his lyrics. The songs were not meant to ridicule. They were in dialect, not uncommon for any group at that time (stories and popular songs were written in “Irish” and “Italian” dialects, etc.), but he treated the black people like anybody else: falling in love, longing for home, etc.

+1 If I recall correctly, Stephen Foster was an abolitionist. He was the first composer to incorporate black rhythms and musical phrasings into mainstream music.