[78-L] Today Kate Smith; tomorrow ...?

Lloyd Davies all_my_linx at yahoo.ca.invalid
Sat Apr 20 18:51:37 PDT 2019


<<<Sports teams dump Kate Smith's 'God Bless America' because of her racist songs>>>

I'm not writing as a defender of Kate Smith.  Altho a few of her recordings reveal her lively and emotive stage persona [I'm a big fan of "Somebody loves me" (1941)], most of her career was spent playing it safe as milk for her radio audience.  People are currently taking umbrage at a couple of her recordings from the early 1930's which a) have fallen out of circulation, and b) were hardly the most cringeworthy discs of their time.
HonkingDuck is letting me down, so I'm unable to search who else recorded "Pickaninny Heaven", but a simple search shows the other offending title "That's Why Darkies Were Born" was recorded by many others, including Paul Robeson.
I'm not claiming that people have no right to look backward with a revisionist lens, but I'm wondering what other artist who is still recognizable today should more fittingly be the subject of boycott.

I would nominate Bing Crosby for his blackface performance of "Accentuate de positive" in "Here come the waves" (1944).


I also won't object if Admin wants to cancel this thread.
- Stephen in Calgary


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