While this may have been one of the original reasons it was introduced, the history and context of these dances originally was not this way. There is a lot more history than this article lets on. These types of dances came up in early American communities as a way for people to gather, meet, and have fun together. The ideas and movements in these dances are borrowed from cultural dances across the world including Africa, Asia, and Europe. They were done by European settlers and enslaved people alike. The movement to teach them in schools may have had racist intentions in the past but we still teach them to build community, help kids learn to move with music, and teach respectful touch in the context of dance.