Kate Smith should be celebrated as an American hero (Opinion)

Shame on the teams, bureaucrats and media talking heads looking for click bait who disparaged an American icon, Kate Smith. Not only did she win the Presidential Medal of Freedom for raising hundreds of millions for our nations troops, but all historical evidence points to her having the courage to push back against a segregationist and discriminatory culture in the 1930's.

The song she was vilified for was not only done as satire to support the struggle of blacks in America, but was performed on Broadway and recorded by one of the leading civil rights activists of the era, Paul Robeson.

I've been talking about this since the story broke on Friday. I ended my Friday 'Chasing News' TV show with a commentary on the absurdity and ignorance behind banning Smith's version of God Bless America. Paul Mulshine wrote a great article about the controversy pointing out that the Yankees may have left the door open to bringing the song back.

As far as the Flyers, well, I've been to my last Flyers game for sure. How embarrassing that they succumbed to the panic over a song that was so obviously taken out of context.

Thanks to Paul Mulshine for having the common sense to point out the obvious despite the potential of being labeled an insensitive bigot.

Thanks to Wildwood Mayor Ernie Toiani for having the strength to defy the thought-police and keep the song playing.

Thanks to all of you for continuing to show your support for common sense and fighting back against those that would destroy a good person's reputation because of an ignorant misunderstanding of facts.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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