Boll weevil

Last night was the first meeting of the JHMI Choral Society this summer.  The first song we worked on was a traditional (supposedly, I'd never heard of it) song called "Boll Weevil".  Here are the lyrics:

Oh, the boll weevil is a little black bug, came from Mexico, they say.
Came all the way to Texas, came a-lookin' for a place to stay.
Now the first time I saw that little black bug, he was sittin' on a plant.
I said, "Hey there, boll weevil, if you think you're gonna stay, you can't."


Well, the next thing I new, that little black bug crawled around without a care;
He was mighty well contented, 'cause he had all his fam'ly there.
Well, I got mad and told the little bug, "Now, you better run and hide."
And the boll weevil said, "Can't do it, 'cause my fam'ly has multiplied.

"And we gotta have a home, and we gotta have a home", etc.
And they gotta have a home, and they gotta have a home, etc.


I got on my knees, "Boll weevil," said I, "You're a treatin' me with scorn.
You've eaten up all my cotton crop, now you're startin' on my field of corn.


"Can't you find another home, can't you find another home?"

When the merchants came around to buy, I didn't have a bale to sell.
I could not pay the mortgage, and heavily in debt I fell.


Now I haven't got a home, no, I haven't got a home, etc.

Oh, the boll weevil is a little black bug, came from Mexico, they say.
Came all the way to Texas, and I wish he'd go away!


So the first time we sang this song, I thought it was a cute little song about how a homeowner's life can be ruined by an insect infestation.

But then Soroosh pointed out that there was a problem with the lyrics.  At first I thought he just had trouble understanding them, but no, he went on to argue that the boll weevil is not simply an insect in this song, it's a metaphor.  And then, on closer inspection, I saw that, yes, the song about the intruder that came from Mexico to Texas, settled down, and had descendents, whom the narrator tells to go home and whom the narrator blames for destroying his livelihood, is indeed troubling.

So: is this song racist?  And if it is, when you sing a song that you think really is about an insect, and to whose disturbing undertones you're blissfully oblivious, is that racist?