FS1’s Jason Whitlock Slams Media Hypocrisy on Kate Smith Ban

This month, several pro sports moved to tear down statues to and ban songs by Kate Smith, because back in the 1930s she sang songs that many today consider racist. However, FS1’s Jason Whitlock saw nothing but hypocrisy with sports teams banning Smith while at the same time embracing racist, sexist rappers, Newsbusters noted.

Smith’s version of God Bless America was banned by the New York Yankees last week while the Philadelphia Flyers removed a statue to the singer that has stood outside Wells Fargo Center since 1987.

The dustup arose after it was discovered that back in the 1930s Smith had sung songs such as That’s Why Darkies Were Born, and Pickaninny Heaven.

But to FS1’s Jason Whitlock, this whole PC incident is an exercise in hypocrisy.

On Thursday, Whitlock slammed those all upset over Smith’s songs:

Once again our emotions and minds are being toyed with. The people who blackmailed the Yankees into dumping Smith’s version of the original God Bless America are not trying to clean up American racism. They’re sowing seeds of division and undermining American pride under the bogus pretense that they’re promoting racial harmony. No rational person of any color thinks eliminating a dead woman from Yankee Stadium improves race relations.

In fact, it does the opposite. It creates the impression of a ridiculous racial double standard. A long-dead white woman is held to higher standards than any millionaire or billionaire black rapper. You wanna hear an anti-black song? You don’t have to go back to the 1930s. Go listen to my ‘favorite’ rapper Dr. Dre’s ‘Rat-a-tat-tat.’ He brags about never hesitating to put an n-word on his back.

Whitlock added that the song Smith is most famous for, God Bless America, was written in 1938 by Irving Berlin especially for Smith as an answer to the totalitarianism of Adolph Hitler. And Smith used the song to help raise $600 million in war funds to support the U.S. effort in World War Two.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.