Flyers and Yankees banning Kate Smith's 'God Bless America' at games over racist past points to tone deafness in understanding impact of racism--not hyper political correctness
By Mona Austin The Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and New York Yankees baseball team will no longer play Kate Smith's famous rendition of "God Bless America." Smith, who is deceased, was a team emblem of the Flyers they say because her song seemed to bring them luck. A statue was built in her honor and her voice was heard traditionally for decades before games started. Written By Irvin Berlin, "God Bless America" is a literal patriotic prayer for the nation. The team had played Smith's version of the song since 1969. In and of itself, the song is not an issue, but it is being banned due to Smith's connection to it after the teams became aware of her racist past. ESPN's STEVEN A. SMITH WEIGHS IN ON THE KATE SMITH STATUE CONTROVERSY-- CLICK HERE TO LISTEN. Recently it was discovered that as an entertainer Smith sang songs with racial slurs in the lyrics such as "darkies" and " Pickaninnies." Her song ...