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Kate Smith's family claimed to be "heartbroken" by the fact that the Yankees and Flyers moved away from the "God Bless America Singer" after learning that she had sung two songs unfeeling to race in the 1930s.
Smith's niece, Suzy Andron, and her husband, Bob, said Saturday night at USA Today Sports that they were surprised and upset by recent stories that the singer was racist for playing two songs called "C & #". That's why Darkies were born "and" Pickaninnies ". Heaven "in the early 1930s.
Both songs contain racist language and references, although the first has been described as satire. It was also performed at the time by Paul Robeson, who was black.
When the Yankees learned of Smith's story last month, they adopted a keyboard version of God Bless America. The Yankees had played this song in the middle of every game since September 11, 2001, following terrorist attacks by the late owner George Steinbrenner.
The Androns also indicated on the website that Kate Smith, to whom the Reagan had awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor in 1982, while her health was deteriorating, had worked hard for patriotic causes during the Second World War.
According to "Kate Smith: A Bio-Bibliography", the late singer would have helped sell $ 600 million worth of war bonds during the war.
Bob Andron, 74, said that he thought people were unfairly focusing on the two songs Smith had performed in his early twenties while she "was trying to stand out as a singer," adding that Smith had sung the pieces but had not written them.
"It's a person who found the lyrics of two songs that she sang, about 3,000 that she recorded, and tried to make it a deal," said Bob Andron. "And my heart goes too. Because they are lost. They do not understand what kind of person was Kate Smith. "
Suzy Andron helped take care of Smith in North Carolina before her death and said she had never spoken to her aunt about any of these particular songs.
She also strongly opposed her aunt being racist.
"[I’m] saddened that a woman who has been dead for almost 35 years is being attacked this way, "she said. "Aunt Kathryn has not really seen any color. She did not see the color of a person. She was very much in tune with a person's character. I always thought it was a model, not to see the color of a person, but to see his character.
"And that's why I'm incredibly sad."
The Androns are unhappy that Smith's voice is no longer heard at Yankee Stadium and hope their fans will sing "God Bless America" anyway.
"People can connect points in different ways," said Bob Andron. "These people – whoever they are, bless them. They connected the wrong points. "
This is not the first singer with whom the Yankees broke their ties. In 2009, organizations stopped using singer Ronan Tynan, who had made numerous appearances at the Stadium to sing "God Bless America" after he allegedly made anti-Semitic comments.
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