Then came yesterday. From The New York Daily News:
The Yankees have taken a stand against racism for their seventh-inning stretch.
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.
What exactly is 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.”
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.
Well, for starters, Smith didn't write the song. But if Smith is a racist for singing "That's Why Darkies Were Born" then what does that make Robeson? Does it make him the late civil rights activist a racist? Should Rutgers University rename The Paul Robeson Cultural Center? What about the Paul Robeson High School in Chicago? Somehow I don't think either of things is going to happen.
But the Philadelphia Flyers have covered Smith's statue in front of the Wells Fargo Center. Generations of Flyers' fans have heard her rendition of "God Bless America". And now she is being expunged from polite society and from our cultural history. What exactly does any of this accomplish?
What exactly is 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.”
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.
Well, for starters, Smith didn't write the song. But if Smith is a racist for singing "That's Why Darkies Were Born" then what does that make Robeson? Does it make him the late civil rights activist a racist? Should Rutgers University rename The Paul Robeson Cultural Center? What about the Paul Robeson High School in Chicago? Somehow I don't think either of things is going to happen.
But the Philadelphia Flyers have covered Smith's statue in front of the Wells Fargo Center. Generations of Flyers' fans have heard her rendition of "God Bless America". And now she is being expunged from polite society and from our cultural history. What exactly does any of this accomplish?
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