Yet again while avoiding all recognition of that evil, inconvenient concept of proper context, Kate Smith’s iconic rendition of “God Bless America” will no longer be heard during New York Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers games.
For 18 years, Yankee Stadium regularly used Kate Smith’s 1939 recording of “God Bless America” in the middle of the seventh inning. But they ditched it altogether this season, replacing Smith’s rendition with different versions of the song. Why? As the Daily News learned, the Yankees were made aware of Smith’s history of potential racism.
Smith was a famous singer before and during WWII who recorded the offensive jingle, “Pickaninny Heaven,” which she directed at “colored children” who should fantasize about an amazing place with “great big watermelons,” among other treats. She shot a video for that song that takes place in an orphanage for black children, and much of the imagery is startlingly racist. She also recorded, “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” which included the lyrics, “Someone had to pick the cotton. … That’s why darkies were born.”
— New York Daily News, 4/18/19
We all know this current #Woke generation has no concept of satire which is why brilliant movies like “Blazing Saddles” (which thankfully will NEVER be remade) are viewed in sheer horror by many of our enlightened, yet easily-offended progressives.
The Kate Smith purge continued today, as hockey’s Philadelphia Flyers also said they would no longer play the singer’s version of “God Bless America” at their games.
Smith’s legacy has been under fire after a report surfaced that she performed songs with racist themes in the 1930s.
— Yahoo News, 4/19/19
During Friday’s Rush Limbaugh Show, fill-in anchor Mark Steyn put the controversy into real world context.
Today’s generation had be very careful of the precedent they’re setting by selectively purging all that’s personally offensive to their fragile sensibilities.
The Yankees are investigating these claims and there are some conflicting notions regarding the song “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” in particular, because it was considered satire at the time and recorded with African-American artist Paul Robeson. Still, her shocking lyrics from 1939 are neither humorous nor ironic in 2019 — and the Yankees acted swiftly.
Paul Robeson hasn’t been publicly issued postmortem Uncle Tom status… yet. But not all have taken the fetal position and succumbed to social media outrage.
One day after the New York Yankees decided they were ‘erring on the side of sensitivity’ and abruptly ended playing Kate Smith’s God Bless America at their seventh inning stretch, the Philadelphia Flyers literally sacked their long-time fan favorite and good luck charm. What’s caused the ruckus are songs that she recorded in the 1930s that today are considered racist. The PC police have struck again.
As vice president of the Flyers, I first played the song on Dec. 11, 1969, to shake up the growing number of Flyers fans displaying a lack of respect during the pre-game ritual of The National Anthem at the Spectrum. I played God Bless America only 21 times over the first three seasons – solely for a key game — and it worked like a charm. The Flyers won 19 of those games, tied one and lost only once, a far cry from their dismal losing records in those days. (By the end of the 2018-19 season, her record stood at a sparkling 101-31-5.)
— Lou Scheinfeld, former executive with the Flyers, 76ers and Eagles
Of course, today’s generation tends to research as little as possible while using their medias to justify a collective outrage.
HOWEVER, had they taken the time to READ the last three verses of the “satire”, they’d see that instead of demeaning black people, it appears this song has an entirely optimistic and complementary view of the “drakies”.
Someone had to laugh at trouble
Though he was tired and worn
Had to be contented with any old thing
That’s why darkies were born
Sing, sing, sing when you’re weary
And sing when you’re blue
Sing, sing, that’s what you taught
All them white folks to do
Someone had to fight that old Devil
Shout about Gabriel’s Horn
Someone had to stoke that old train
That would bring God’s children to green pastures
That’s why darkies were born
The human experience tends to be cyclical and one day future generations will look back at the #snowflake generation and decide their actions are not to be erased from consciousness but mocked for their inability to understand that criticism can be doled out in a variety of forms, including brutal satire. And when they become the butt of jokes, there will be many examples to choose from and the jokes will live on for decades more.
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