WILDWOOD, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- The Yankees and Philadelphia Flyers have decided to hit the stop button on Kate Smith's rendition of 'God Bless America', but the song will still play on the Wildwood boardwalk.
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Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. appeared on the Dom Giordano show on 1210 WPHT, and said he had no plans to pull the song despite evidence of racism in Smith's past.
"I'm a small town mayor, and I look at what's happening to the world and it's amazing how everyone wants to rewrite history," Troiano said, "Nobody wants to allow history to be an educator or a teacher to help us improve in the future. We're going to change history. What we don't like, we're going to just erase. It's whoever's offended at that time, is the one that's pushing the issues."
NJ.com reports, the Yankees stopped using the song during the seventh-inning stretch because of songs that were recorded before and during WWII. Those songs included 'Pickaninny Heaven' which included a video shot in an orphanage for black children.
They used to play 'God Bless America' before big games, but have since torn down a statue honoring her.
Smith's legacy will stand on the Wildwood boardwalk, where Mayor Troiano says her voice is a tradition.
"It's not a statement that we don't understand what's going on and we're ignorant to the history," Trioano told Goirdano. "We understand the history. The world has gotten so politically correct and so afraid that they're going to offend somebody."
Nearby Cape May has decided to scrap Kate Smith's voice in favor of another version of the song.
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