"I am black *but* comely" ???

Yesterday in synagogue we read Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs.  I've been puzzled for a good while by chapter 1, verse 5, or, to be precise, by the translation thereof:

ה  שְׁחוֹרָה אֲנִי וְנָאוָה, בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם; כְּאָהֳלֵי קֵדָר, כִּירִיעוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה.

5 'I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

The Hebrew letter וְ  (vav), when at the beginning of a word, almost always means "and," to the best of my admittedly-limited knowledge.  Wouldn't a literal translation be "Black am I, and comely"?

So I have to ask the question, is "black, but comely" a racist translation?

I mentioned my concern at shul yesterday, and had an interesting discussion with someone who speaks Hebrew better than I, who recommended that I look at the quote in context:

ה  שְׁחוֹרָה אֲנִי וְנָאוָה, בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם; כְּאָהֳלֵי קֵדָר, כִּירִיעוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה.	5 'I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
ו  אַל-תִּרְאוּנִי שֶׁאֲנִי שְׁחַרְחֹרֶת, שֶׁשְּׁזָפַתְנִי הַשָּׁמֶשׁ; בְּנֵי אִמִּי נִחֲרוּ-בִי, שָׂמֻנִי נֹטֵרָה אֶת-הַכְּרָמִים--כַּרְמִי שֶׁלִּי, לֹא נָטָרְתִּי.	6 Look not upon me, that I am swarthy, that the sun hath tanned me; my mother's sons were incensed against me, they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.'

She suggested that this could be either an urban-rural issue, with city-dwellers being unaccustomed to seeing the skin of these who always work outdoors, or a class issue, with those able to pay others to do their outdoor work possibly looking down their noses at those who show signs of extensive exposure to the sun.

Interesting thoughts, both.

What's your opinion?