“God Bless the USA” Replaced by Justin Bieber’s “Baby” at Kindergarten Commencement
A Brooklyn principal has swapped Justin Bieber’s hit “Baby” for “God Bless the USA” at a kindergarten graduation ceremony because of fears the song could offend people, according to a NYPost.com
The incident happened at the Edna Cohen School in Brooklyn, NY, which is filled with proud immigrants from Pakistan, Mexico and Ecuador.
The school principal Greta Hawkins claimed “God Bless the USA” song was offensive to some cultures and religions.
God Bless the USA Lyrics:
“If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.…And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.”
The Post says she told teachers: “We don’t want to offend other cultures.”
The city is standing by her decision. Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti told the Post that “the lyrics are not age-appropriate.”
And Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told the NYPost that the song decision is up to the principal.
“It’s important to reinforce that they start out the morning every day of the school year with the Pledge of Allegiance and ‘America the Beautiful,’ and that, to me, is what this country is about, and they celebrate that, and that’s how we should start our day. You have to really wonder about some of the lyrics in the song, so I have to rely on the principal’s judgment along that line.”
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