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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...

Kate Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” has been scrapped at Yankee Stadium, but Bronx Bomber fans are going to bat for her over allegations of racism. Smith’s niece, Suzy Andron, told The Post she is “honored” by the groundswell of support for the late singer among fans and media. Smith’s niece, Suzy Andron, told The Post she is “honored” by the groundswell of support for the late singer among fans and media. “Most are solidly behind the positive notion that this is a misunderstanding by a few people who took two or three of her songs [out of 3,000...

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...

The Flyers are scrubbing connections with famed singer Kate Smith as the team investigates racist lyrics in several of her songs. That includes covering a bronze statue of Smith that stands outside Xfinity Live! and removing her iconic recording of “God Bless America” from their playlist. “We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization,” the Flyers said in a statement. "As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of 'God Bless America’ from our library and covering...

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 Yankee were made aware of Smith’s history of potential racism.

<p>A viral video shows a young woman getting pummeled by a cop during a wild scuffle on a New Jersey beach at the start of the Memorial Day weekend.</p> <p>The 54-second clip captures a chaotic scene of two cops struggling to subdue the woman as a child cries and someone repeatedly shouts, “Stop resisting!”</p>

WILDWOOD • Call it a case of cabin fever. A historic log cabin in Wildwood has gone missing, and St. Louis County Police are investigating. Sometime between Nov. 24 and 29, someone disassembled and carted off the pieces of the cabin off Highway 109 just south of Eatherton Road in Wildwood. The family who owned it had planned to donate the cabin to the city for use as a historic attraction. St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said the cabin could barely be seen from the highway. "It’s pretty secluded, where, if nobody’s paying attention, you can probably get...

Hindsight will soon be punishable by a $25 fine in this Jersey Shore resort. Wildwood passed a law Wednesday night banning overly saggy pants on the boardwalk, prompted by numerous complaints from longtime visitors about having to see people’s rear ends hanging out in public. Subsequent violations of the law, which could take effect as early as July 2, could result in fines as high as $200, and 40 hours of community service. … Wildwood is a resort town near the southernmost tip of New Jersey. It is famous for its doo-wop ’50s musical culture, its neon art-deco motels, and...

Her print sales number half-a-million, and she has a line of merchandise ranging from wallpaper to puzzles. "There is something about lighthouses people love," said Donna Elias, a Newark native whose art career started on the Atlantic City boardwalk, where she sold caricatures to tourists. "I hear from people all the time about the lighthouses they love and why. It seems everybody has a lighthouse story. And, likewise, every lighthouse has a story. The story of Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Inlet is one of a once lonely beacon of night-cutting light, now being surrounded like a star in the Milky Way....

In the firmament of Jersey Shore boardwalks, Seaside would rank a very dead last. Tacky, seedy, dumpy -- these are some of the nicer things people have said about the Shore's most-maligned destination. But Seaside Heights and its somewhat better-behaved cousin, Seaside Park, make for the second best Jersey boardwalk experience. Only Wildwood -- livelier boardwalk, more rides and that incomparable, and free, beach -- tops Seaside. You can spend a day on the Seaside boardwalk and have enough material for a major motion picture, or novel. And enough food to last all summer. Start with a cheesesteak at Midway...

New Jersey's most popular beach town is about to make a decision that has been unpopular with environmentalists around the world -- using wood cut from the Amazon rainforests to repair a section of its boardwalk. Wildwood, voted the state's best beach last summer by vacationers and others, will become the latest of several New Jersey communities opting to use the more durable rainforest wood to build or fix boardwalks. Environmental groups contend the world's tropical rainforests are being wiped out by logging to satisfy demand for this kind of wood. Mayor Ernest Troiano Jr. said Wildwood reluctantly turned to...

The world's first boardwalk was nailed down at the Jersey Shore in 1870 to solve the nuisance of sand being tracked into hotels. Now boardwalks themselves are the problem in some Shore towns. Plans to redo the fabled boards of Wildwood and Ocean City this fall have environmentalists and activists fighting local officials over the wood for the projects. In bid specifications for the work, both Cape May County towns have requested wood from the ipe, a tropical tree that grows in Central and South American rainforests, fragile regions some environmental groups argue are being ravaged by unscrupulous loggers. The...