God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
Kate Smith/Irving Berlin
The evil men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
William Shakespeare
Writers note: I wrote this from 35,000 feet on our way to Argentina. Since returning I have supplemented below from more recent news below.
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
Kate Smith/Irving Berlin
The evil men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
William Shakespeare
Writers note: I wrote this from 35,000 feet on our way to Argentina. Since returning I have supplemented below from more recent news below.
A little over a year ago I posted about "My Surrender" to the "National Anthem" boycott so that I could watch my Eagles play in the Super Bowl. At that time I said my boycott was as politically motivated as the kneeling players were and that politics and sports should not be used as a weapon. Most of my friends and readers thought my stance was stupid and I did finally "cave". Well maybe I was wrong? To me "sports" as a weapon in the political divide in our country continues.
The latest example, a few Posts Back I talked about "tearing down statues" and the movement to shatter our cultural myths. Well it seems like PC correctness has raised it's head in two different sports. How? Well breaking news as I headed to Argentina.
What news? Check out the this picture from Philly a statute, "honoring" Kare Smith from outside the arena where "The Flyers" play.
Yes this hooded figure is Kate Smith, a "former icon" whose rendition of God Bless America was the teams "theme". Well no longer. She is now subject to "shrouding" and shame.
The Beloved Yankees have also banished Kate Smith from "singing" God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. A practice started several years ago.
Now we have been advised (by who?) that our new historical purging must now include " the once 'patriotic" Kate. It seems that she apparently sang several racially charged songs early in her career. Some defenders believe her songs were in fact subtle parodies since a few James Robson also sang. I am not so sure about her absolution on that count because I tend to think that since she grew up in the Jim Crow south (Virginia)she may well have had ideas on race that were a product of her childhood past. However in my head it does not matter because looking at snippets of a persons past fails to capture the full scope of a persons contribution to our way of life. So I see this is simply another PC attack on our heritage. Why?
First this-some snippets about the "great things" she did in her career as published in her Obit by the New York Times (Full Obit is in Link) my comments are in "italics":
Full Kate Smith Obit
What news? Check out the this picture from Philly a statute, "honoring" Kare Smith from outside the arena where "The Flyers" play.
Yes this hooded figure is Kate Smith, a "former icon" whose rendition of God Bless America was the teams "theme". Well no longer. She is now subject to "shrouding" and shame.
The Beloved Yankees have also banished Kate Smith from "singing" God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. A practice started several years ago.
Now we have been advised (by who?) that our new historical purging must now include " the once 'patriotic" Kate. It seems that she apparently sang several racially charged songs early in her career. Some defenders believe her songs were in fact subtle parodies since a few James Robson also sang. I am not so sure about her absolution on that count because I tend to think that since she grew up in the Jim Crow south (Virginia)she may well have had ideas on race that were a product of her childhood past. However in my head it does not matter because looking at snippets of a persons past fails to capture the full scope of a persons contribution to our way of life. So I see this is simply another PC attack on our heritage. Why?
First this-some snippets about the "great things" she did in her career as published in her Obit by the New York Times (Full Obit is in Link) my comments are in "italics":
Full Kate Smith Obit
Kate Smith, All-American Singer, Dies At 79
By FRANK G. PRIAL
Kate Smith, whose vibrant voice made ''God Bless America'' an unofficial national anthem and was one of the most popular singers of the century, died yesterday afternoon at Raleigh (N.C.) Community Hospital. She was 79 years old and lived in Raleigh.
President Reagan expressed sorrow over her death, saying: ''Kate Smith was a patriot in every sense of the word. She thrilled us all with her stirring rendition of 'God Bless America' and sang with a passion which left few eyes dry.'' (I know Ronald Reagan was to conservative and old fashioned).........
She made more than 15,000 radio broadcasts and, over the years, received more than 25 million fan letters. At the height of her career, during World War II, she repeatedly was named one of the three or four most popular women in America (wonder if any of the females running for President will come to her defence?). No single show-business figure even approached her as a seller of War Bonds during World War II. In one 18-hour stint on the CBS radio network, Miss Smith sold $107 million worth of War Bonds, which were issued by the United States Government to finance the war effort. Her total for a series of marathon broadcasts was over $600 million.
President Roosevelt once introduced her to King George VI of England, saying: ''This is Kate Smith. Miss Smith is America.'' (My Comment:She did more to fight "fascism" than the Yankees or Flyers ever have).......
For a time, Kate Smith had exclusive rights to perform ''God Bless America'' in public. She relinquished that right when it became apparent the song had achieved a significance beyond that of just another new pop tune.
Mr. Berlin and Miss Smith waived all royalties from performances of ''God Bless America.'' The royalties continue to be turned over to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. (yes PC is killing these organizations anyway but she probably did more for young women and men of ALL colors than the Flyers or Yankees ever have).
I could go on about Kate Smith but I instead I will turn to the beloved sanctimonious Yankees. How about this bit of history from "SB Nation" Full Link Here: NY Yankees and Jackie Robinson Day The Author is Steven Goldman and the Article is from 2013. Note also Phillies and Red Sox fans that your beloved clubs are cited as especially racist longer than everyone else as well as well!
On Jackie Robinson Day, the Yankees must answer for Jim Crow Baseball
The Yankees held to the color line longer than all but three teams. An organization that wants to be credited with the franchise's positive history must acknowledge the negative as well.
Each Jackie Robinson Day, I wait in vain for the Yankees to actually do something about it. Yes, the players wear no. 42 and everyone says the right things, but the team never addresses its history. The Yankees were one of the last teams to integrate, holding on to Jim Crow baseball for eight years after Robinson broke the color line. As far as I know, the team has never said or done anything to acknowledge the role the organization had in perpetuating racism in baseball............
Yet, the current Yankees claim to be heirs to all that has come before: If they win the World Series this year, they will claim it is their 28th world championship, not their first. Babe Ruth's and Lou Gehrig's numbers hang on the wall. So, you can't have it both ways: if you take the good parts of the heritage, you also have to take the bad, and it remains true that a baseball team known as the Yankees refused to employ African Americans for the first 52 years of its existence, far longer than every team except the Phillies, Tigers, and Red Sox.
In 1946, Baseball set up an ownership "steering committee" in response to Branch Rickey's signing of Robinson. The committee's final report, authored by MacPhail, (Yankees owner!) showed that in the main its goal was not to further integration but to suppress it, reasoning that if teams added African American players, there would also be African American fans in the stands, and in turn fewer white fans. Thus would franchise values be destroyed. "The employment of a Negro on one AAA League club in 1946 resulted in a tremendous increase in Negro attendance at all games in which the player appeared... The situation might be presented, if Negroes participate in major-league games, in which the preponderance of Negro attendance in parks such as Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, and Comiskey Park could conceivably threaten the value of the major league franchises owned by these clubs."
Yes Baseball treated Black Americans like crap, ESPECIALLY the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox and Tigers.
Perhaps banishing Kate was an "attempt" to correct and "atone" for their crappy behavior in a bygone era.
Yes Baseball treated Black Americans like crap, ESPECIALLY the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox and Tigers.
Perhaps banishing Kate was an "attempt" to correct and "atone" for their crappy behavior in a bygone era.
So my questions Blog followers:
1. Should the Yankees be banned from baseball because of their past??
2. Better yet should Major League Baseball be entirely shut down due to its long racist past??
3. Well if not then Maybe Major League Baseball can start paying reparations, to the descendents of players in the Old Negro Leagues they could charge an extra few bucks a ticket?
4. Having brought up reparations Maybe the Boy and Girl Scouts should refund those royalties or make reparations since the money came from "tainted" Kate? We could add 10 bucks a year to membership charges!
Finally try this......
Should the Governor of Virginia have resigned? Kate Smith's home state was Virginia and I have yet to see a picture of her in a "Hood" or Blackface (well except the one put on by the Flyers). But that Governor sure had some explaining to do!
This headline from CNN
This headline from CNN
Virginia governor apologizes for 'racist and offensive' costume in photo showing people in blackface and KKK garb
Ok readers I do NOT believe we should do any of the above. History is History and it cannot be changed. Kate Smith's history cannot be changed either and she can no longer "explain" or apologize. Likewise the Yankees cannot change "racist issues" behavior that occurred in their past. Nor can the Governor of Virginia escape a moment in his past. Oh if any of us could.
But to me it seems obvious that "all the successful group shaming" of our history has specifically targeted attacks especially on our Noble Patriotic Past. Furthermore "purging" as shown by Virginia (where no forced resignation was forthcoming) is somewhat selective Why? Most likely because inconveniently will pick the wrong person to purge, after all a Republican might be governor if we removed a Democrat from office.
Am I missing something? If not I make these two "Observations" on politics and sport in this instance.
The Yankees and Flyers obviously believed that in today's society Kate Smith is poison. All the WW2 guys are dying off anyway and the current demographic likely supports purging our "past" -the vocal ones anyway. It seems any who share my view simply cave to PC thinking.
American sports such as Football (National Anthem - Players and Trump) Hockey (Flyers), Baseball (Yankees, Red Sox) have been politicised and weaponized to the point who wants to watch anymore? One can choose to ignore but guess what- it will never end.
UPDATE upon my return some interesting news on the politics of everything (and what goes around comes around).
These two items revolve around the "Gun Control" divide, from right here in Colorado:
1. I am sure most have heard about another school shooting here in Colorado. What I found rather interesting was that a large number of the kids at the STEM school where it occurred apparently boldly showed frustration with the politics of death. They walked out of a vigil service the night after the shooting when a congressmen and a state rep who came to help them "mourn" instead immediately launched into politics. The first speaker started out by saying "I will not start with any "thoughts and prayers"-because that's what "Republicans" do we need gun control. The second speaker echoed and kids (most it appears) started walking out. They indicated that all they wanted was to mourn and be heard -not to be political tools of the great divide. The organizers apologized the next day on their "insensitivity".
2. The second was in my local Newspaper (from Friday). Colorado has enacted a law designed to allow authorities to prevent a gun purchase by someone (until a hearing within 30 days) if credible evidence exists that the person may be "unhinged". As a gun owner I think it may make sense even if the bill is slightly flawed in design. However I found it interesting that our local county will "likely"not be enforcing this new law, in fact most ( 35 of 68) rural counties in Colorado feel the same way. Why? They claim that it violates their oath of office to uphold the constitution. Many counties have proclaimed they are "sanctuary counties" which like "sanctuary cities" will ignore certain state laws as a matter of conscience.....The great divide is now apparently within states as well as between them!!
Winter Park Times Gun Control Red Flag Ban
Life goes on but to where, who the heck knows.
With That I bid you
Adieu
Am I missing something? If not I make these two "Observations" on politics and sport in this instance.
The Yankees and Flyers obviously believed that in today's society Kate Smith is poison. All the WW2 guys are dying off anyway and the current demographic likely supports purging our "past" -the vocal ones anyway. It seems any who share my view simply cave to PC thinking.
American sports such as Football (National Anthem - Players and Trump) Hockey (Flyers), Baseball (Yankees, Red Sox) have been politicised and weaponized to the point who wants to watch anymore? One can choose to ignore but guess what- it will never end.
UPDATE upon my return some interesting news on the politics of everything (and what goes around comes around).
These two items revolve around the "Gun Control" divide, from right here in Colorado:
1. I am sure most have heard about another school shooting here in Colorado. What I found rather interesting was that a large number of the kids at the STEM school where it occurred apparently boldly showed frustration with the politics of death. They walked out of a vigil service the night after the shooting when a congressmen and a state rep who came to help them "mourn" instead immediately launched into politics. The first speaker started out by saying "I will not start with any "thoughts and prayers"-because that's what "Republicans" do we need gun control. The second speaker echoed and kids (most it appears) started walking out. They indicated that all they wanted was to mourn and be heard -not to be political tools of the great divide. The organizers apologized the next day on their "insensitivity".
2. The second was in my local Newspaper (from Friday). Colorado has enacted a law designed to allow authorities to prevent a gun purchase by someone (until a hearing within 30 days) if credible evidence exists that the person may be "unhinged". As a gun owner I think it may make sense even if the bill is slightly flawed in design. However I found it interesting that our local county will "likely"not be enforcing this new law, in fact most ( 35 of 68) rural counties in Colorado feel the same way. Why? They claim that it violates their oath of office to uphold the constitution. Many counties have proclaimed they are "sanctuary counties" which like "sanctuary cities" will ignore certain state laws as a matter of conscience.....The great divide is now apparently within states as well as between them!!
Winter Park Times Gun Control Red Flag Ban
Life goes on but to where, who the heck knows.
With That I bid you
Adieu
Phil Gocke has weighed in but like most of you comments have been a problem. Therefore I will post his Email to me...Mr Whiteman any disagreement take it up with Phil!
ReplyDeleteAnswers to blog questions below ( I have had problems responding on blog -could be a password issue ����
So my questions Blog followers:
1. Should the Yankees be banned from baseball because of their past?? Since I am now a Phillies fan - yes - ban them for life ( sorry Whitey).
2. Better yet should Major League Baseball be entirely shut down due to its long racist past?? Nope - national past time unless we give back the country to native Americans.
3. Well if not then Maybe Major League Baseball can start paying reparations, to the descendents of players in the Old Negro Leagues they could charge an extra few bucks a ticket? Charge only yankee fans ��
4. Having brought up reparations Maybe the Boy and Girl Scouts should refund those royalties or make reparations since the money came from "tainted" Kate? We could add 10 bucks a year to membership charges! No - TimBoy was an eagle.
Thanks Phil,
ReplyDeleteYou honestly "opinionated" on every question! As with most comments-you were first.
Stay well my friend.
Yo, yo, yo Phil, why all the Yankee hate? Did you miss the part where the Phillies held the color line even longer than the Yankees? We can’t give baseball back to the native Americans because we don’t have enough politically correct team names!!! Better than reparations, let’s give descendants of the Negro Leagues franchises in the growing legalized online gambling websites (casinos have worked very well for native Americans). Finally, the Boys and Girls Scouts have other issues so let them keep the money. I’ll never forget when Kate Smith sang in front of a crazed Spectrum crowd just before the Flyers came out and kicked the Russian Red team in the ass!!! God Bless America!!!
ReplyDeleteElls (I like that moniker it is much more PC than what I have always used.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for the 2019 Blogger award for best retort to a fellow readers jab. I loved it.
I think I read somewhere that over 80% of Native Americans think team names like the "Braves" "Indians" and even "Redskins" are no big deal.....in fact many see as a complement???
Yes Kate and the Flyers...a bygone era now. I suspect Ed Snyder may have pushed back. The real issue I suspect is "Comcast" who needs to protect it's image well beyond Philly Flyer Fans. I do not think we realize how powerful PC Boycotting is with corporations. Talk about how our cultural narrative gets pushed- by those who effectively threaten.
Jim
Ok "Ells", "Phil", and "Murray"! While I to laughed at your responses, beyond all that mirth regarding the Yankees and Phillies; Boy scouts and Girl Scouts; lies some seriously worrisome issues. The revisionist history that is occurring is scarily Fascist and even when the history isn’t revised the politicization has all of us apologizing and lining up for reparations. All in all, it makes me sad and my head hurts just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need is more people like Kevin Hart that say “hell no” I won’t keep apologizing.
I had a friend who was the descendant of Gen Custer. He used to tell me that the problem with looking at what Custer did is that we are looking at it through a different lens in a different time and with a different standard.
With each and every “news worthy” event I think of him (My Friend, not Custer!) more and more.
Just wanted to weigh in..
Well well Ethel you weighed in very appropriately-speaking of Custer and Native Americans, and lenses here is today's news from Vermont. The Legislature has just tossed out Columbus and designated it "Indigenous People's Day".
ReplyDeleteSo my College Friends if you come up this October it is Indigenous People's Day weekend! Not Columbus Day Weekend!
Here are some comments from people involved in Vermont
Rep. John Killacky D-South Burlington, said the move is long overdue.
“We aren’t erasing Columbus,” he said, “we’re completing history, adding a nuance to what discovery means.”
Rep. Scott Beck, R-St. Johnsbury, was one of the lawmakers who voted against the change. He said he didn’t think it was appropriate to stop recognizing Columbus. Instead, Beck thinks Indigenous Peoples’ Day should be celebrated as its own separate holiday.
“Columbus is one of the great discoverers of all time,” Beck said. “He is what really led Europeans over here, he was a big part of that. He wasn’t perfect, but I think you look at any of these people from previous centuries, even from most of the 20th century, and they’re all scoundrels when you look at them from a 21st century lens.”
Beck said if you apply this kind of litmus test to everyone in history, then you’d have to take down the portrait of George Washington that hangs just behind the speaker of the House. He acknowledged that many people would be in favor of that, but said he thinks you have to piece together the good and the bad of historical figures, and recognize them for their overall impact.
Rich Holschuh, a member of the Vermont Commission for Native American Affairs, has been lobbying for this change for several years, starting in Brattleboro, where he lives,
“He did what he thought he should do, and he thought he was doing right thing,” Holschuh said. “But we now know he did not do the right thing, and it is our society that is choosing to memorialize this person whose actions are not worthy.”
Wow, I am never sure what to say after I read O@9K. I seemingly always agree and feel like I just read a PhD. thesis. What’s to say the student is better than the professor. That said, I will contradict and add a few thoughts that I am sure you could have used as an example but space becomes an issue. I as you know am of Italian descent on both sides, brought up in a very strong cultural home and have lived 40 years in Boston’s Italian North End. A further example of your blog could be on the current movement by extremists to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Americans Day. In fact several states including VT your summer home and my retreat along with 50 U.S. cities and several universities (Ivy and some state (MN, hmm wonder why) already made the change.
ReplyDeleteThis fits beautifully into your scenario. Columbus their argument goes did not ‘ discover America,’ yes but he arrived her first, created the gateway for millions to follow and is still a source of Italian pride. I think in fairness Italians should ask for reparations for the treatment they received from 1880 until 1920. Here is just one example from the NY Times to make a brief point that an entire blog could be devoted to in support of reparations and keeping Columbus Day. Of course I recognize my reasoning is as flawed as the minorities but unfortunately we have leaders in government who fear advocacy alliances.
Negative stereotypes persisted. In 1893, a Times article about Italian convicts detained on Ellis Island referred to Italy as “the land of the vendetta, the mafia and the bandit.”
These characterizations, of course, were not limited to The Times.
In 1911, the Dillingham Commission report declared: “Certain kinds of criminality are inherent in the Italian race. In the popular mind, crimes of personal violence, robbery, blackmail and extortion are peculiar to the people of Italy, and it can not be denied that the number of such offenses committed among Italians in this country warrants the prevalence of such a belief.”
And with that I bid adieu
John Del Negro
Wow John...I think most followers of this blog may disagree with the "Professor" thing but thanks (I think) for the compliment.
DeleteNow about you "Italians" specifically,and our human tendency (throughout our existence) to "label" the traits of "others"
First on the Italian score and The Dillingham Commission, have you not watched "The Godfather" Trilogy? How bout them Sopranos or some of those Joe Pesci roles (Goodfellows).
There is no doubt in my mind that the "culture" of Southern Italy was imbedded with the "Omerta" Code. However my citing this is in the same vein as Kate Smith likely had the cultural of the Deep Old South in her upbringing. That does not negate her positive contributions. Look at Roman Law, St Francis and Galileo. That White guy Marconi gave us the radio which begat Snoop Dog, Rush Limbaugh, and MSNBC. Likewise I even think of all that great Italian Food that Italy gave us....should I not eat and enjoy spaghetti today because the mob once imported olive oil???
Seriously though no matter how hard we try to ignore or worse yet punish historic cultural reality we only create new problems. With cultural change we should not blame the past on all of today's problems.
As an "old white" guy I understand that white european males engulfed the world with slavery (taking it from frankly Arab and African traditions and applying free market economics which turned it into a major industry) nothing can change that fact. Nor that some of these same economic and social factors overwhelmed the New World. BUT likewise, The Aztecs and Incas etc overwhelmed and killed their rivals, Genghis Khan overwhelmed Asia and Eastern Europe. etc etc
But also note the Meso Americans agriculture took over much of the worlds food (think Tomatoes, Potatoes, and corn squash etc etc), Genghis Khan opened East to West, encouraged religious ideas of all faiths and actually started the idea of open diplomatic relations-which lead to ......Columbus by gosh. In the process he killed millions(?) and fathered so many that his genes also have been found throughout the world.
So now it is the "white european ideals" that are blamed for problems, I am sure we have caused a few. However I go back to an earlier post and supplement it with this.
It was a bunch of White Males (some slaveholders and some adamantly opposed to slavery) who came up with the idea that all humans (OK so they disagreed on who was fully human-we have appropriately expanded that) are created equal and they are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights. Including Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.
Such a thought was foreign to virtually everything before in human history, and it is getting lost in our zeal to stamp out the vestiges of White Male Privilege.
It just seems to be a sad and wasted way for so many zealots
to "Pursue Their Happiness".