You Have GOT to Be Excrementing Me

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There's another reason to hate the New York Yankees: they've banned Kate Smith's "God Bless America." Add to that the Philadelphia Flyers, who not only stopped playing the song, they removed a statue of Kate Smith from the grounds of their arena. And why, you might ask, is this legendary, iconic song, and to me the iconic rendition, being removed? Because people who probably weren't even alive when Kate Smith died in 1986 are having a hissy fit over a song she recorded in 1931. I've said this before, but it needs to be repeated: we cannot impose 21st-century morality on the past. The song in question, "That's Why D*rkies Were Born," was recorded in 1931, when "d*rkies" was a common term in popular culture. In fact, if you listen to a lot of modern covers of old folk or country songs, there's a code you'll find: most times you hear "old folks" it's a modern update of the lyrics that originally said "d*rkies." (Examples: "Where the Old Red River Flows" and "Kentucky.") Let's extend this, too: speaking of Kentucky, our "official" state song is Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home." The original opening line? "The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home, 'tis summer, the d*rkies are gay." The other state song that Foster wrote, "Old Folks At Home" (or "Swanee River") also originally had the "D" word in it. So Kentucky and Florida need to replace their state songs? And we need to remove any statues of Foster? (EDIT: Right after I wrote that last line I did a search. The city of Pittsburgh did remove a statue of their native son!!) And why is the late Ms. Smith taking the brunt of the hostility? She didn't write the song. it was written by Ray Henderson and Lew Brown, who wrote (together or separately) other, far better-known songs such as "Has Anybody Seen My Gal," "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," "The Birth of the Blues," and "The Best Thing in Life Are Free." So now I guess we have to remove "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" from the Grammy Hall of Fame, right? There's a meme on Facebook that has an iconic pose of Jackie Gleason with his arms extended. The caption reads, "Good morning, America! WHAT are we offended by today?" No kidding. Removing a song because of an 88-year-old recording that most of the complaining people have never heard? You have got to be (excrementing) me! Sing it, Kate: