Wildwood mayor: Smith recording will play on boardwalk amid racist allegations

The mayor of a New Jersey shore town says they will continue to play Kate Smith’s recording of “God Bless America” on its boardwalk despite allegations of racism against the singer.

Wildwood has traditionally started each day by playing the song. Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. says it’s a patriotic song that has “nothing to do with anything but America.”

During an interview on 1210 WPHT’s Dom Giordano Show Monday Troiano said in part “it’s amazing how everyone wants to rewrite 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,” he added.

Troiano’s comments come as the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Yankees have stopped playing Smith’s version of the song amid conflicting claims about several of her tunes, including her 1939 hit “That’s Why the Darkies Were Born.”

The tune originated in the 1931 Broadway revue “George White’s Scandals,” and was considered satire at the time. Smith’s likeness also appears in a 1939 ad that heavily uses the mammy caricature, one of the most well-known racist depictions of black women.

Smith died in 1986.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.