Free Republic

Dozens of plastic bags containing “repulsive” antisemitic flyers and possible “rat poison” were found scattered around a Chicago neighborhood Monday — in the third disturbing incident this year. A resident came across the hateful leaflets in the Lincoln Park area Monday morning and reached out to their local official. “This is not the first time our ward has seen incidents like this. To the people who are spreading these flyers, I have a clear message: you are committing acts of hate,” Timmy Knudsen, alderman for Chicago’s 43rd Ward, said in a statement.

The knife-wielding woman accused of ripping down posters of Israeli hostages and pepper-spraying a Jewish safety volunteer in Brooklyn last week seethed “I’ll kill you Jews” before attacking, the victim told The Post. Melissa Ugur, 20, was allegedly slicing up the flyers Saturday afternoon in Midwood when Shmira Public Safety volunteer Mark Pomerantz confronted her and asked why she was taking the posters down. “Because it’s not true, it never happened,” Ugur replied about the approximately 240 hostages whom Hamas terrorists kidnapped in their surprise attack last month, according to Pomerantz.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov did not take the pregame skate on Tuesday night because he refused to wear the team's LGBTQ+ Pride Night warmup jersey, citing his religious beliefs. Provorov, 26, told reporters after the Flyers' 5-2 home win over the Anaheim Ducks that it was his choice "to stay true to myself and my religion," which he identified as Russian Orthodox. "I respect everyone. I respect everybody's choices," he said.

Police in South Florida are investigating anti-Semitic flyers showing the faces of Disney executives branded with Stars of David that were sent to residents’ homes earlier this week. Residents of Coral Gables and Miami reported on Tuesday that they had discovered plastic bags filled with kernels of corn and pictures of Disney brass on the front lawns of their homes. The flyers included the headshots of six executives with The Walt Disney Co., including CEO Bob Chapek. Each of the executives is identified as Jewish. A blue Star of David is superimposed on the foreheads of the photographed individuals. “Every...

Two neighborhoods in Houston were littered with racist and antisemitic flyers over the weekend, about a week after residents in a separate area of the city woke up to similar hate messages. A Harris County resident told CNN she found 400 flyers tucked inside plastic bags around two neighborhoods in the Houston area on Sunday. They featured messages of hate, including an image of Adolf Hitler and the caption "We can do it again."

ritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ fuzzy, orange mascot, is under investigation for an alleged physical assault of a 13-year-old boy during a photo shoot at the team’s stadium back in November, multiple outlets reported Wednesday. Chris Greenwell, the boy’s father and a longtime season ticket holder, wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday that his son, Brandon, was “punched and injured” by Gritty, and that the organization “tried to bribe me not to speak about it.”

Rain or shine, cold or warm, false information or not, the Columbus Day parade will take place Saturday morning in Bloomfield. The event was never in question. But there was certainly some confusion. That’s because someone went around Bloomfield’s business district this week passing out flyers falsely claiming that the parade had been canceled. The flyer, which included an official Pittsburgh Columbus Day parade logo, said “it has been brought to our attention that this is an offensive holiday. “Columbus’ arrival to America caused the mass murder of Native American people,” the letter read. “There are plenty of other ways...

Now it is evidence of “racist views and anti-Islamic views” simply to ask whether or not Islam is a religion of peace. The question cannot even be asked without bringing on a police investigation. Simply asking about the content of Islamic doctrine is not allowed. It is a nefarious, “sneaky way to make people feel othered.” But the question nonetheless lingers in the air, and Sherwood Park residents will have to deal with it sooner or later: “Islam: Religion of Peace? What if it isn’t?”

In overtime, Bobby Clarke scores the game winning goal to give the Flyers their first win on Boston Garden ice since November 12, 1967 and, more importantly, send the Series to the Spectrum tied at one game each.The call by Gene Hart and Don Earle.

Yankees fans are calling for a boycott in response to the team’s banning of Kate Smith’s version of God Bless America. The team ditched the late singer’s rendition after a they learned Smith had also sung some controversial songs about blacks back in the 1930s. According to the New York Post Yankees fans have been bombarding social media with a multitude of criticism for the team’s decision to ban the singer from Yankee Stadium. For instance, one fan wrote, “boycotting the Yankees until Kate Smith is back, otherwise I am kissing a half century of loyalty goodbye.” Die-hard Yankees fan...

For decades belt-it-out popular singer Kate Smith (shown on right) was considered the embodiment of the uniquely American cultural phenomenon that combines wholesome entertainment with patriotism and love of country. Smith’s rendition of Irving Berlin’s classic “God Bless America,” which she first recorded in 1939, turned the song into a patriotic anthem that has inspired generations of Americans. But Smith, who enjoyed a 50-year career and the esteem of fans all over the world before her death in 1986, has become the latest target of PC gumshoes ever on the lookout for evidence that individuals either past and present have...

The long arm of the PC police has reached back to the ’30s and arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced the late singer Kate Smith. Smith, who popularized Irving Berlin’s song “God Bless America” and was a female pioneer in early television, recorded songs that today in hindsight are viewed as racist. An old friend, Harry Covert, writes to recall the early days of black-and-white TV when he (and I) watched Smith’s television program. Covert remembers one show interrupted by a news bulletin announcing the attempted assassination of Harry S. Truman by militant Puerto Rican activists. He notes that today’s Puerto Ricans...

Wildwood’s American Legion post has joined the Jersey Shore town’s mayor in offering to provide a new home for the Kate Smith statue taken down by the Philadelphia Flyers last weekend amid concerns over racist lyrics in songs she recorded decades ago. “Since the removal of the statue, tens of thousands of comments have been posted to social media disagreeing with the decision of the Philadelphia Flyers,” the petition from American Legion Post 184 reads. “Veterans in Wildwood support the mayor’s plea to move the statue and have created this petition to show the statue’s owners just how much we...

The New York Yankees Major League Baseball franchise took Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" off its seventh-inning stretch playlist when its managers learned of the singer's "history" of racism. Evidently, as reported in the New York Daily News, Kate Smith recorded a song and video in 1939 with blatant racist content. In today's political climate in America, just as happened with Kate Smith and the N.Y. Yankees organization, if anyone or anything's past can be presumed in any way as racist, there is usually immediate condemnation and some sort of action taken to make things right for the...

It was announced this week that both the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Flyers would stop using their traditional recorded version of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” during their games. This happened after it surfaced that Smith had performed songs now considered racist during during her hey day in the 1930s. The Flyers, with whom Smith is more closely aligned as the good luck charm for their 1974 Stanley Cup run, even removed a statue of her from the Philadelphia sports complex. In a brilliant monologue, sports commentator Jason Whitlock broke down the absurdity of these moves. The...

WILDWOOD, N.J. (CBS) – While the Philadelphia Flyers will stop playing Kate Smith’s “God Bless America” at games following racism allegations, one Jersey Shore mayor said Monday he will continue to play her song on the boardwalk. Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano told The Dom Giordano Program on WPHT 1210 that Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” will continue to be played on the boardwalk every morning. “I’m just a small-town mayor and I look at what’s happening to the world and it’s amazing how everyone wants to rewrite history, no one wants to allow history to be an educator to...

CNN)A year after her 1986 death, the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers erected a statue to honor renowned singer Kate Smith, whose rendition of "God Bless America" was played during home games for decades, including the 2018-2019 season. But on Sunday the Flyers announced they had removed the statue, saying the team had discovered some of her songs contained racist lyrics and sentiments that were "incompatible" with the organization's values.

First she was covered up. Now, apparently she is gone. The bronze statue of the late singer Kate Smith has apparently been removed from outside Xfinity Live! as the Flyers looked into racist lyrics she sang. Talk radio host Tony Bruno tweeted around 9:30 this morning that the statue was gone and posted video.

The Yankees have decided to no longer run Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” during their seventh-inning stretch because of Smith’s affiliation with songs that carried racist lyrics. Most famously, Smith sang a 1931 song, “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” which opened: “Someone had to pick the cotton, Someone had to pick the corn, Someone had to slave and be able to sing, That’s why darkies were born.” The song, which has been called a satirical take on racism, was a big hit for Smith, and also was recorded by Paul Robeson. When the Yankees last month became aware...

This is a tricky one, but is worth examining: Yankees drop Kate Smith’s "God Bless America" after questions of possible racism arise https://t.co/mbDdQ5OrgT— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 19, 2019 From The Washington Post: The New York Yankees reportedly confirmed Thursday that they were no longer playing a Kate Smith version of “God Bless America” during the seventh inning of home games, after the team learned of a Depression-era song she’d recorded that raised questions of possible racism. Two songs cited by the New York Daily News, which broke the story, included “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” a 1931 hit for...