Posted on Apr 24, 2019
Philadelphia Flyers Remove Statue of Singer Kate Smith Amid Allegations of Racism
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/philadelphia-flyers-remove-statue-singer-kate-smith-amid-allegations-racism-180972026/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190424-daily-responsive&spMailingID=39521924&spUserID=ODU1Njc2OTExOTgxS0&spJobID= [login to see] &spReportId=MTUwMjEyNDcxOQS2
There are few things that bother me more than prejudice and its handmaiden, discrimination. However, there is one that stands out above the others: Injustice. Justice is imperfect. Would anyone argue? But, at least, we can make the attempt to be just, especially in judging the behavior of others. One of the greatest injustices has been named: Ex post facto (from a thing done afterward) That is, you cannot be held accountable for a wrong done before it was declared wrong. So, where is the justice in judging Kate Smith by a standard that arose after she was dead and buried? Obviously, there is none (unless someone is hysterically offended...) Now, if someone comes up with evidence that Kate Smith tied the knot at the lynching of a black man, we can see the justice in sullying her reputation, removing her statue, and spitting on her grave. But the fact that she sang a popular song in an age when the song was not even offensive to the black population is hardly grounds for vilifying her today, is it?
There are few things that bother me more than prejudice and its handmaiden, discrimination. However, there is one that stands out above the others: Injustice. Justice is imperfect. Would anyone argue? But, at least, we can make the attempt to be just, especially in judging the behavior of others. One of the greatest injustices has been named: Ex post facto (from a thing done afterward) That is, you cannot be held accountable for a wrong done before it was declared wrong. So, where is the justice in judging Kate Smith by a standard that arose after she was dead and buried? Obviously, there is none (unless someone is hysterically offended...) Now, if someone comes up with evidence that Kate Smith tied the knot at the lynching of a black man, we can see the justice in sullying her reputation, removing her statue, and spitting on her grave. But the fact that she sang a popular song in an age when the song was not even offensive to the black population is hardly grounds for vilifying her today, is it?
Philadelphia Flyers Remove Statue of Singer Kate Smith Amid Allegations of Racism
Posted from smithsonianmag.comPosted in these groups: Racism
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 9
Posted 5 y ago
(Posted this on another thread.)
The funny thing about history...you can't change it.
SJW - What kind of person scours the recording history of a woman dead for over thirty years to complain about a song recording nearly 100 years old? Is that person a normal, sane and representative example of modern American life or is that person a pathetic loser obsessed with being a victim?
According to her New York Times obituary: “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.”
Put in a modern day context that $600 million Smith raised to fight Hitler in World War II would equate to nearly $11 billion dollars in today’s money. $11 billion! To help the war effort fight, you know, to fight real Nazi's!
The absolute worst thing you can do is encourage these whiners. This is not bringing us together, it is driving us apart and it is disgraceful. Questioning history is one thing, destroying it quite another.
The funny thing about history...you can't change it.
SJW - What kind of person scours the recording history of a woman dead for over thirty years to complain about a song recording nearly 100 years old? Is that person a normal, sane and representative example of modern American life or is that person a pathetic loser obsessed with being a victim?
According to her New York Times obituary: “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.”
Put in a modern day context that $600 million Smith raised to fight Hitler in World War II would equate to nearly $11 billion dollars in today’s money. $11 billion! To help the war effort fight, you know, to fight real Nazi's!
The absolute worst thing you can do is encourage these whiners. This is not bringing us together, it is driving us apart and it is disgraceful. Questioning history is one thing, destroying it quite another.
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