Hours after saying Wildwood will continue playing Kate Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America,” on its boardwalk, the mayor of the Jersey Shore town went a step further by offering to provide a new home for the statue of the now-controversial singer shrouded and then removed from outside the Philadelphia Flyers’ arena.
“If it’s available we would be interested in having it,” Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. told 6abc.com. “The outcry of the people has piqued my interest.”
Troiano Jr. couldn’t immediately be reached by NJ Advance Media on Wednesday morning. The Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers’ home arena, also didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment.
God bless America - even the sports execs too stupid to see through the attack on Kate Smith | Mulshine
It may be a cliche to say a former hockey player to say he's been hit in the head too many times; but what else could explain Flyers' exec Paul Holmgren's decision to remove a statue of Kate Smith?
The statue was removed from outside the Philadelphia sports complexes over the weekend after concerns surfaced about recordings of racist songs by Smith decades ago that led both the Flyers and the New York Yankees to cut longstanding traditions associated with her rendition of “God Bless America.”
“It’s an Irving Berlin patriotic song that has nothing to do with anything but America,” Mayor Ernie Troiano said. “We have no intention of removing it, and it’s not a statement that we don’t understand what’s going on or we’re ignorant to the history, we understand the history.”
“God Bless America” didn’t play Tuesday on the boardwalk in Wildwood, but it will be back Wednesday, PressofAtlanticCity.com reported.
AP
The statue of singer Kate Smith that stands near the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia was in the process of being covered on Friday. The Flyers have joined the New York Yankees in cutting ties with the 1930s star who sang “God Bless America.”
Mayor Troiano’s comments come as some sports teams, including the New York Yankees and the Flyers have stopped playing Smith’s version of the song amid conflicting claims about several of her tunes, including her 1939 hit “That’s Why the Darkies Were Born.”
The tune originated in the 1931 Broadway revue "George White's Scandals," and was considered satire at the time. Smith's likeness also appears in a 1939 ad that heavily uses the mammy caricature, one of the most well-known racist depictions of black women.
Besides taking out Smith’s “God Bless America” recording from their library, the Flyers have removed a bronze statue of her that had long stood outside their arena. Its whereabouts have not been disclosed.
Smith’s connection with the Flyers started in 1969 when a team executive ordered her version of “God Bless America” to be played instead of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” That led to her performing the song several times before games in the 1970s. A year after her 1986 death, the team erected the statue.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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2019-04-24 12:48:00Z
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