MUTED

Philadelphia Flyers Banish Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’ Over Racist Song

The hockey team is following in the footsteps of the New York Yankees.

A second sports team has banished Kate Smith’s rendition of God Bless America because she also recorded a racist song. The Philadelphia Flyers is no longer playing the tune on its scoreboards for good luck, and they also covered a statue of her outside the arena, USA Today reports. That comes after the New York Yankees stopped using Smith’s recordings. The impetus was the revelation that Smith recorded a 1931 hit titled “That's Why Darkies Were Born.” In a statement, the Flyers said: “We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization. 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 up the statue that stands outside of our arena.”

Sing It Loud

Dueling American Anthems

Ron Hogan