Symbols

I’m old enough to remember the Broad Street Bullies, the brash and brawling Philadelphia Flyers, led by Bobby Clarke, Dave “the Hammer” Schultz, and Bernie Parent, who unceremoniously shoved my beloved Blackhawks aside and become the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup.  On their way to NHL glory, the Flyers. Whenever the Flyers needed a big win, they would roll out Kate as their good luck charm to sing "God Bless America."

But now, the social justice warriors, hell  bent on erasing history and anyone that has any taint of racist language usage, no matter how inconsequential, decided that Kate Smith has to go.  Smith's family is understandably quite upset.  

The NY Yankees have also jumped on board and have banned playing Smith’s rendition of God Bless America at Yankee Stadium.  Never mind that the Yankees did not field a black player until 7 years after Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Elton Howard did not take the field until 1955.  It crossed my mind that if the Yankees were serious about blotting out past discrimination, perhaps they should withdraw the franchise from major league baseball.  Alternatively, if the Yankees wanted to do something positive, they should underwrite the efforts of Jeremy Krock whose Negro Leagues Grave Marker Project (www.nlbgmp.com) identifies and buys headstones for players in the Negro Leagues, to make sure these men are not forgotten.

The complained about song was recorded by Paul Robeson and was recorded by Kate Smith early in her career.  But that doesn’t matter.  We now judge peoples’ actions of 70 years ago by social norms of today.  So just as Laura Ingalls Wilder was removed from the award of childrens’ literature last year, Kate Smith’s voice won’t be heard in Philly or NY anymore and the Flyers have had her statue removed.

It was no little irony that a day or two later, I stopped for a beer at the bar in the train station.  In line in front of me was a fellow with a red t-shirt emblazoned with CCCP on the back in yellow letters and a hammer and sickle emblem in the corner.  I see these symbols with some frequency.  Last year, I saw fur hat with a red star and hammer and sickle button. 

Kate Smith killed no one.  She sang songs.  Laura Ingalls Wilder oppressed no one.  She wrote childrens’ books.  Communist Russia killed millions and was responsible for the suffering of millions more.  It deported hundreds of thousands out of the Baltics and nearly ignited WWIII.  Yet no one flinches at the sight of the hammer and sickle or the image of Che Guevara.  But Kate Smith and Laura Ingalls Wilder must be erased from history.