There’s a point to this... on the other hand the point about emulating those we admire is also valid. A more stoic, staid white society loved the spontaneity and heartiness they saw in parts of black society, especially freedmen and Christian. Black people weren’t oafs in this vision. They were people who were free to be different as they chose.
The history of chattel slavery also raises its ugly head. That created an underclass that didn’t have to exist, and fed kidnapping in Africa. The bible vision of “slaves” in Ephesians is actually that of voluntary servants (”masters, give up threatening.”) Sometimes that was realized, but sometimes great cruelty prevailed.
Anyhow, it would be good if we could get past these social stigmas when dealing with checkered subjects, but the situation is what it is.
You know... as a musician I thought about this. It could be that the early minstrels had respect for the black music and vocal capabilities. There have been many famous cases where famous white musicians and artists had great appreciation for black music, many incorporated it into their style. Musicians are a different kind of critter spiritually, they could have been secretly protesting how blacks were being treated and this is how they did it. Many were from the northern states.