Dinah is an enslaved and abused woman in the Old Testament, and as a result, “Dinah” became a stereotypical woman’s slave name in the US.
* Why I use it anyway
It is an inalienable part of the “American Songbook”, esp. since it was adapted as a tag-on bit of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”.
And while it recalls unhappy connotations, naming a woman “Dinah” in a song is not explicitly and viciously racist.
** Why this song is problematic
This is a faux Native American song, written by Margaret Embers McGee, a white womamn, in 1918.
* Why I use it anyway
It is a super clear and simple example of the most basic syncopation pattern, and already familiar to many people.
And like “Dinah”, while it raises issues of ethno-racial appropriation, and romanticization, it is not vicious or mocking.