# Racism, Kate Smith & School Brawls - Which is More Detrimental to Urban Youth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 4, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479 "2019-05-04T21:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JBGUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@JBGUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBGUSA)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/1 "2019-05-04T21:07:34Z")
This past week featured two unrelated event, both relating to issues concerning urban youth, and perceived racial slights. [Kate Smith’s racist lyrics cause her removal from baseball games](http://www.ramaponews.com/news/view.php/1038718/Kate-Smiths-racist-lyrics-cause-her-remo) Excerpt: > [@Ramapo News Article](#): > > Kate Smith, a famous singer who was best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” had her statue removed by the Philadelphia Flyers after racist lyrics were found in some of her songs.\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* > > Some Americans are angry with the decision to remove her completely because they feel it is disrespectful to not only veterans, but all Americans. Anyone who sacrifices their life to keep this country safe should not be disrespected by anything that takes a strike at tradition and patriotism One wonders, what are the real problems plaguing urban youth: 1) the fact that a famous singer sang other songs that would not be played today; or 2) wild brawls that detract from any semblance of education? The problem with “G-d Bless America” is that Kate Smith also sang “That’s Why Darkies Were Born.” Now, keep in mind, Kate Smith did not write either one. Israel Beilin a/k/a Irving Berlin wrote “G-d Bless America.” Paul Robeson, a black singer who immortalized, among other songs “Old Man River” and who fled the U.S. because of McCarthyism sang “That’s Why Darkies Were Born.” Maybe we need to ban all songs that Paul Robeson ever sang. That takes down “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and Nobody Knows the Troubles I’ve Seen." And while we’re at it, Aretha Franklin, Miriam Anderson and Mahalia Jackson would also have their songs stricken because those singers sang the now-offensive spirituals. It goes on. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/2 "2019-05-04T21:15:19Z")
Would keeping the statue up have prevented the brawl? I don’t see any reason to compare the two completely unrelated events. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/3 "2019-05-04T21:21:09Z")
Makes you think. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/4 "2019-05-04T21:22:46Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Makes you think. Does “What the hell is the OP about?” count as thinking? ---
**Author:** ![JBGUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@JBGUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBGUSA)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/5 "2019-05-04T21:27:32Z")
> [@Taber](#): > > Would keeping the statue up have prevented the brawl? I don’t see any reason to compare the two completely unrelated events. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Does “What the hell is the OP about?” count as thinking? The question is why the minority community is focusing on very remote slights. Kate Smith is not the cause of the brawl. She sang songs sung by notable black singers that would not be written for public consumption today. Why are we looking for statues to remove rather than concentrating students on actual work? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/6 "2019-05-04T21:30:24Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > The question is why the minority community is focusing on very remote slights. Kate Smith is not the cause of the brawl. She sang songs sung by notable black singers that would not be written for public consumption today. Why are we looking for statues to remove rather than concentrating students on actual work? Why not do both? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/7 "2019-05-04T21:30:34Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > The question is why the minority community is focusing on very remote slights. Do you have any evidence that the “minority community” is ignoring violence? Or any reason to believe that being critical of a singer somehow takes anything away from efforts to reduce violence? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/8 "2019-05-04T21:31:00Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > The question is why the minority community is focusing on very remote slights. Kate Smith is not the cause of the brawl. She sang songs sung by notable black singers that would not be written for public consumption today. Why are we looking for statues to remove rather than concentrating students on actual work? I know that most people can do more than one thing at a time. Maybe you think the minority community cannot? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/9 "2019-05-04T21:44:34Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > The question is why the minority community is focusing on very remote slights. Kate Smith is not the cause of the brawl. She sang songs sung by notable black singers that would not be written for public consumption today. It would be interesting to know whether the people demanding Kate Smith be banned from baseball games were black or white. There’s a certain type of white folks who like to prove how aware they are of racial injustice. They are rarer than Trump supporters would have you believe, but they are there. And they are making things harder when it comes to attaining real racial equality. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/10 "2019-05-04T22:09:22Z")
I recognize the OP’s attempt to find a hypocrisy gotcha, but the two events aren’t closely enough connected (or connected at all, really) to pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/11 "2019-05-04T22:12:57Z")
well, apparently enough people weren’t/arent “blessed” enough to stop either the brawls or racism … ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/12 "2019-05-04T22:23:16Z")
I fail to see the connection between the events described in the OP and young people living in cities. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/13 "2019-05-04T22:28:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I fail to see the connection between the events described in the OP and young people living in cities. You’re right, the OP has hypocritically denied the problems of RURAL youth! For shame! ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/14 "2019-05-04T22:43:44Z")
Don’t you see? Some black people done where did something bad. Anyone who ever said anything about reducing racism must completely switch focus to this. After all, while it is true that when a white person does something wring that is only a personal failing, minorities must all be perfect before the deserve equal treatment. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![JBGUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@JBGUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBGUSA)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/15 "2019-05-04T22:44:30Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Do you have any evidence that the “minority community” is ignoring violence? Or any reason to believe that being critical of a singer somehow takes anything away from efforts to reduce violence? Did you watch the video? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/16 "2019-05-04T22:56:17Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > The question is why the minority community is focusing on very remote slights. Kate Smith is not the cause of the brawl. She sang songs sung by notable black singers that would not be written for public consumption today. Why are we looking for statues to remove rather than concentrating students on actual work? Why are you posting here instead of curing America’s problems? Clearly people in the statue removal business aren’t the experts in stopping street fights. But you seem to lay claim that you know how to fix America, and yet you’re wasting your time here. Shame on you. Just leave those poor statue removers to do their job, and stop blaming them for things they have nothing to do with. They’re just trying to make a living, and here you are making a scapegoat out of them. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/17 "2019-05-04T23:02:17Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > Did you watch the video? Yes. Care to answer my question? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/18 "2019-05-04T23:04:57Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > Did you watch the video? By the way, gentle readers, the fight on YouTube occurred 105 miles away from the location of the Kate Smith statue, leading to one obvious question: What in holy fucking hell does the OP think one thing has to do with another? I mean, what the hell? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/19 "2019-05-04T23:05:28Z")
> [@JBGUSA](#): > > Did you watch the video? I did! So now _you_ can maybe answer a question about the possibility of doing multiple things. Like, if someone asks me whether we should have cops or firefighters, I say “wait; is there a reason we can’t have both? Because I want both, and also paramedics and teachers; and, near as I can tell, we can have all of that up and running.” Can we, in your opinion, address both of the issues you mentioned in the OP, and also address a third thing and possibly a fourth? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479/20 "2019-05-05T00:17:38Z")
well because you see the evil atheistic godless liburls are picking on one of the saints of patriotic godlly Americana but yet haven’t solved other problems in the world there wasting their time … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-kate-smith-school-brawls-which-is-more-detrimental-to-urban-youth/833479.md?page=2)