The tradition of hearing Kate Smith perform “God Bless America” won’t end in one popular New Jersey beach town, despite moves by the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Yankees to distance themselves from the late singer over racist lyrics.
That’s according to Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, who said the customary 11 a.m. daily broadcast on the town’s beach and boardwalk will continue regardless of the controversy involving some of Smith’s songs, including a 1939 performance of a song titled “That’s Why Darkies Were Born.”
“We’re playing [‘God Bless America’] because it’s a great song and a great rendition of that song,” Troiano told the Cherry Hill Courier-Post. “If protesters are coming in and calling me a racist, they’re welcome to do that.”
The moves by the Flyers and the Yankees to stop broadcasting Smith’s version of “God Bless America” during games — as well the removal of Smith’s statue outside the Flyers’ arena — were overreactions to lyrics from 80 years ago that matched the “sentiment of the day,” Troiano said.
“Was it wrong?” he continued. “It absolutely was. It was a different world. We changed history, we changed how we treat people. Let it be a lesson of the ignorance of another time.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: NY Post