See the wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Old_Kentucky_Home
Some think the song sentimentalized slavery and the antebellum south. It was originally a minstrel song. The original opening lines were:
The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home.
‘Tis summer, the darkies are gay,
Obviously gay did not imply anything to do with homosexuality. The modern lyrics replace “darkies” with people. The word darkies occurs several times, and the narrative voice of the original is clearly that of a slave sentimentally recalling his life in Kentucky.
Thank you. Didn’t know any of that.