The latest politically correct controversy to engulf our nation has seen the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Yankees turn their backs on “God Bless America” singer Kate Smith over her controversial song history. In the wake of the backlash against Smith, who died in 1986, a Jersey Shore mayor has announced that her song “God Bless America” will continue to play on his town’s boardwalk every day at 11am.

“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,” explained Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. “Nobody wants to allow history to be an educator and a teacher to help us improve in the future … The song is greater than anything, so you know what; it’ll continue to play in Wildwood.”

This came one day after the Flyers removed a statue of Smith from outside their team arena amidst protests over the singer’s song history. Specifically, protesters were offended by Smith’s 1939 tune “That’s Why the Darkies Were Born,” a song that was considered satire at the time and was also sung by Paul Robeson, who was black. In addition, Smith’s likeness was included in a 1939 ad that featured the mammy caricature, one of the most well-known racist depictions of black women.

Smith had been strongly associated with the Flyers since 1969, when her song “God Bless America” started being played before their games instead of “The Star Spangled Banner.” She performed the song in the team’s arena many times until her death in 1986, and the Flyers erected a statue for her one year later. Despite this, the team wasted no time in cutting ties with her once the controversy over her past broke last week, putting a black sheet over her statue first before taking it down.

“The NHL principle ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ is at the heart of everything the Flyers stand for,” Flyers President Paul Holmgren said in a statement. “As a result, we cannot stand idle while material from another era gets in the way of who we are today.”

#Flyers statement on Kate Smith: https://t.co/IkvBKFPGs4 pic.twitter.com/FHQIttpFWJ

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 21, 2019

The Yankees also stopped playing Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” last week as soon as the controversy broke. The team had been playing the song during the seventh-inning stretch of every home game ever since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, sometimes using live singers but oftentimes playing Smith’s version.

Find out more about Troiano’s decision to continue playing Smith’s song in the video below.