It is a pretend issue, that I agree is not going away. Imo the song is toast. The slippery slope continues to destroy.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Let's just talk about it 2.0...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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It is a pretend issue, that I agree is not going away. Imo the song is toast. The slippery slope continues to destroy.
Hoo-boy, I can't believe I'm about to do this again, but ...
Let's just talk about it.
Full confession: I imagined a week ago what this weekend would be like once it crossed my mind that we were definitely heading for this exact weekend and what I imagined wasn't actually nearly as bad as the reality that unfolded.
Oh, I knew there would be anger, probably a 10 on a 1-10 scale, but I don't know if I was able to foresee a 14 coming. I knew I would be on duty all weekend, but I didn't foresee that it would mean being on duty at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning and waking up with terrified fear that Orangebloods had been turned upside down in the two hours I'd been able to get some shut-eye. Hell, I knew it would be something else to watch unfold in real time, but I underestimated how frightening "something else" can be.
The Eyes of Texas isn't just the school song, it's a wedding song thousands of times each year (complete with a DKR groom's cake). The Eyes of Texas isn't just a school song, it's the pride of getting a piano player to play it for $200 when you're on the road and inside a rival's bar. The Eyes of Texas isn't just a school song, it's the last sound many people want heard before they are put into the ground.
It feels like after loving the idea of Santa Claus your entire life, you've just learned that the original Santa Claus was involved in reindeer fighting and human trafficking.
It's not that Christmas is never going to come around again. It's not that we can't have a great time and exchange presents. It's not like future generations of kids won't be ok because the big man is no longer coming down the chimney while they sleep.
That's not the point.
It's that the very thing that we've found so romantic about this thing that we love beyond the ability to reason is suddenly being positioned as being toxic by something that happened before anyone alive was even born. All we've ever known is amazing associations with the idea of Santa and now everything that we've ever sworn to love is being questioned to the core.
F that. The anger builds. That's bullshit! The blood pressure rises. This is not right!!!
To say it's been an uncomfortable 48 hours for a lot of reasons is a wild understatement. Completely understood.
I want every last one of you to know that while we might not see eye to eye on everything (or nearly anything as the case sometimes can be), I feel your pain. I know what The Eyes of Texas means to you. I stood in the Rose Bowl with Sean Adams in January of 2006 and watched you drench yourself inside of it with tears. I've stood next to Darrell Royal and watched tears swell up in his eyes at the mere sound of his former players singing the song together as brothers.
No. 2 - Here's the thing, though ...
It really bothers me that I have lived, gone to school and worked around or on the 40 Acres for 34 years and I only learned about the angst surrounding the song in the last week.
It's embarrassing.
To see the looks on the faces of black people when I've told them to their faces that I've lived in this town for 34 years and was oblivious to any connection at all that the song's origins might have to minstrel shows and blackface performers was to the see the looks of people that questioned the integrity of how hard my effort to look could have possibly been.
The things these eyes have seen. The things these ears have heard. Yet, not one damn thing about Robert E. Lee serving as some sort of an inspiration behind the actual phrase "The Eyes of Texas."
My God, it's embarrassing.
For all of the uncomfortable nature of the last 48 hours, perhaps we should have a walk in the shoes of the discomfort that every black Texas student that has known a damn thing about any of the song's history might feel.
I've learned in the last week that this discussion has been going on among black students at Texas since at least the 1980s (based on the personal calls I made to former students this weekend) and that there actually have been efforts to call attention by various student groups for at least 20+ years. In addition, I've learned that if you want to know how insulting a minstrel show is to a black person, just spit in a black person's face because those two things live in the same area code.
We all might want to play the "that stuff happened over 100 years ago" card, but you know what happened a little more than 150 years ago?
Slavery.
So, I think we're all going to have to issue some sort of a pass to anyone with dark skin (or any color of skin) who feels some form of ick when they hear that the song was inspired by a man that not only owned their people, but broke their families apart for sport in the process. We're going to have to give a pass if they find reason to flinch when they hear a song being sung by overwhelmingly white audiences that was first performed in a minstrel show and almost certainly in blackface per university historians.
They've been the ones that have carried this burden around with them for years and have been quiet enough about it to the point that dudes like me can go most of my life without being forced to even be bothered to know.
Let's be clear. Not all former black students knew about this stuff in college. Of the 17 different former black players and students I communicated with this weekend, five claimed that they didn't really know a lot about the song's origins when they were active students. However, all said that knowing the details of the song changed the way they felt about the song moving forward.
One former Texas student that I've known since our days as students together at Texas told me this weekend that she wouldn't stand up for The Eyes of Texas moving forward. This is new for her. This is how she felt after learning the things about the song that we're discussing.
I suppose that's the most power thing about this entire situation.
You can't unsee this. The Eyes of Texas can be performed for the next 2,000 years, but it won't change the fact that we all now know that this song makes some people really uncomfortable and to ignore that discomfort out of protest against personally having to make a concession comes with a new set of implications.
It's rare that I got to scripture for words in this column, but I've been mindful of a passage from James 1:19 all weekend.
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."
My fellow Orangebloods family members, our brothers and sisters of the black UT community are telling us that they've been carrying an uncomfortable burden with them for too many years. Upon sharing with us this burden, it's critical that we listen. It's critical that we are slow to speak. It's critical to not become angry in the blink of an eye.
I'm also reminded of words I once read from Darrell Royal about the subject of race.
“See, back when I was coaching, you didn’t see black families coming to the game. You didn’t see black families wearing orange and white. You didn’t see little kids of the family with little Texas sweaters on. You just didn’t see it. You didn’t see blacks at the game. Well, obviously that’s all changed. It’s integrated and it’s a thing of the past, thank goodness. Those kids have families, and just like everyone else, their families show up to the game, and they show up in support. And they’re ‘hookin’em, Horns.’ That thing is disappearing about the University of Texas. Time has taken care of it.”
Time hasn't quite taken care of all of it, Coach.
The rest of us still have some work to do.
It feels like we'd be letting down the memory of what Royal was all about to drop this important ball all these years later
No. 3 - So, what the heck happens next ...
Here's what is critical to know.
1. It doesn't seem like anyone is freaking out behind the scenes, partly because key people at the top in the football building and in the athletic department were aware of this development.
2. Not everyone in the athletic department was in the loop and I got the sense from some folks involved in other sports that a little bit more of a heads up would have been appreciated.
3. Multiple athletic department officials told me this weekend that the university was already in the process of contributing money to projects that would likely qualify as projects that the people involved in the movement of Black Lives Matters, which at this point includes eight-year old little white kids, would absolutely be in tune with. We're talking about programs involved in inner cities and low-income backgrounds. Both officials believed that educating the players on everything the school already does and everything it still plans to do will go a long way towards satisfying players on that front.
4. As it relates to the names on various buildings, I get the sense that the university will have an open mind about the changes that have been requested, but some are going to be trickier than others. For instance, the Hogg Foundation and The University are super aligned. James Hogg might have signed the first Jim Crow laws into existence, but the foundation with his name does a lot of good for mental health these days. I get the sense that efforts are going to be made on the buildings/statues of Hogg, Robert Lee Moore Hall, Painter Hall and Littlefield Hall, but it will take some time to completely come together.
5. Expect some sort of a statement to come from the desk of Chris Del Conte this week, which will express support for the concerns of the athlete and a strong conviction to show that his support will be backed by action.
No. 4 - About The Eyes ...
Believe it or not, things are much quieter on this front than on the message board, mostly because both sides of the equation on this have no desire to see the world burn.
While the UT athletes absolutely wanted to express their feelings about the situation involving "The Eyes of Texas," they don't appear to crave a full on protest that will turn the burnt orange world upside down.
Here's what I've been told we should probably expect ...
* The "Eyes of Texas" is played before games when the players are still inside the locker room, which means that it can and is still expected to be performed.
* That leaves the situation in the post-game. The first thing that players will immediately be told is that they will not be forced to participate in the song if they don't want to.
* With there being a desire to not have a situation where a dozen or more Texas players are simply not involved with the rest of the team, coaches and fans after the game out of discontent with the song traditionally played, expect discussions to take place about possible tweaks to the current tradition.
For instance....
Instead of playing "The Eyes of Texas” after games with the full team and fans, what if the band plays "Texas Fight"?
As one former player currently in the NFL told me on Sunday afternoon, "I love that. That's the song that gets everyone hyped. Whoever came up with that idea needs a raise."
On paper, could you live with that? Singing the "Eyes of Texas" before the game and singing "Texas Fight" afterwards?
It feels like the kind of potential concession that can work.
I'm not telling you that this is what's going to happen, I'm telling you that there's almost certainly going to be some sort of compromise that is attempted that straddles a fine line like this idea probably does.
No. 5 - The one question I can't really answer ...
The same NFL player that I quoted at the end of the last section also asked me the following question:
"What happens if members of the band decide to protest the playing of the song? Black people are in the band, too"
You know what I sent him back? If you know me at all, you know what I sent.
No. 6 - A few words to Anthony Cook ...
Good luck, young man. Hang in there. Personally, I'm really happy that you're still in the Texas program.
We're going to be rooting for you, not just in football, but in life.
No. 7 - A few actual football thoughts ...
Expect Monday to be one of the bigger days of the year for the Longhorns in the 2021 class.
I'm a huge fan of Kennedale athlete J.D. Coffey, a total bad-ass of a safety prospect that shows flashes of having pieces of talent in the mold of Earl Thomas and Kenny Vaccaro. He's just a junk-yard dog on the field that brings athleticism, physicality and serious play-making to the table. Although he's ranked No. 14 in the state in my current rankings, it's possible that he should absolutely be in the top 10 and inside the top two most valuable tiers of the rankings game. I kind of have him rated as a mid four-star plus at the moment (5.9+).
Meanwhile, Dallas Kimball cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem is an interesting mid-level four star prospect in his own right. He brings great size and physicality to the position as a young player, but he's probably a little rawer than someone like Coffey with a lower basement, even if his ceiling is potentially just as high. Why is he 18 spots behind Coffey? Mostly because he's not quite the dynamic ball hawk when the ball is in the air, but he's still really good. He kind of reminds me of former Longhorns player Davante Davis.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Sell) Of course, I care. Losing half of the paying members would be a life-changing event and the site as we known it for the last 15 years would look quite different. I also wouldn't frame the question the way you have because I don't view what's happening as an effort to "erase the Eyes" as much as it's an effort to bring their beef to the attention of the public. In general, I suppose the athletes in almost everything. Full stop. I'm sensitive to every single concern they've raised. I support the athletes. Yet, there's no world where losing half of our business results in anything but horrible things for everyone with the site, so I can't see how I wouldn't care. It feels like kind of a trap door question with a pretty obvious answer.
(Buy) I actually think the two are intertwined at this point. The good news is that I think he's been playing his cards very well in the last couple of weeks. The tricky hurdles are clearly still in front of him and I think we need to acknowledge that a mistake could be made at any point that could make it all unravel because it's 2020 and it's the Year of the Unravel, but it's hard to be critical of anything he's done in the last few weeks from my perspective.
(Sell) Nah, I just don't believe that.
(Buy) I'm pretty scared shitless.
(Buy) Zero hesitation from me if he's healthy.
(Sell) It's a little crazy to suggest that there's not unrest in locker rooms all over the country. I mean ... I noticed you didn't mention Clemson.
(Sell) Red Banquet still can't be touched. I had "friends" turning on the Orangebloods staff that night.
(Buy) That's kind of hilarious.
(Sell) I don't know anything else. It's like asking Quint right before he's eaten by the shark in jaws if he wishes he'd done something other than hunting sharks with his life.
(Sell) The TV partners in college football have a funny way of turning the narratives away from these types of stories over time.
(Sell) I'm going to say just shy of Jamaal when he's done.
(Buy) Oh yeah. Big time.
(Sell) Nah. Not feeling this at all.
(Buy) What's an April?
No. 9 - The List: Texas Road Games ...
Here's my personal Top 10 favorite/most memorable Texas road games that I have personally attended (bowl games and Texas/OU do not count).
10. 1988 Baylor
It was so cold and windy that mom went and sat in the car for the entire second half. What I remember more from that game is that Baylor partly won it because of a kickoff that got caught in the wind and blew back the other direction from which it was kicked, which Baylor recovered as an amazingly bizarre onside kick.
9. 1989 Houston
Andre Ware, folks.
8. 1992 Baylor
The Grant Teaff Retirement game.
7. 1997 Baylor
They tore the goal posts down after beating a 4-7 team.
6. 1984 Baylor
My first Texas game to attend in person.
5. 1999 Texas A&M
It's hard to explain, you would have needed to be there.
4. 2005 Oklahoma State
The magic of that 2005 team has never been more evident. OSU basketball players were talking smack in the stands at halftime and went running for cover in the third quarter like a bunch of busters.
3. 2004 Arkansas
I've only done the Arkansas road trip one. That was enough.
2.1995 Texas A&M
The most important pre-2004 game of the Texas program during my lifetime. There was a riot on the field after the game.
1. 2005 Ohio State
The most classless, rude, garbage people I have ever met in my life live in Columbus, Ohio.
No.10 - And finally...
I read about this over the weekend from the Times in the UK about what a couple of soccer clubs are considering in an effort to get fans in the stands.
Would you be down for this?
According to the Times, one possibility is the employment of ‘COVID-19 passports’, with fans taking a short test for coronavirus in the buildup to games and being given a laminate to allow entry if they are proven negative.
Two clubs are said to have held meetings with Hong Kong company PTG Pharmaceuticals, who claim to be able to provide 1.8 million tests per day, using a pinprick of blood to identify antigens.
Known as Quantum Dot, this test takes 20 minutes to produce results, and the plan would be for testing stations to be open at stadiums 72 hours before a game.
This would provide those involved with as close to a guarantee as possible that those attending would not be infected, with temperature checks also required before entry on matchday.
However, while this sounds like an ideal scenario, and could accelerate the return of fans to Premier League games, the cost and time required to conduct tests are held up as issues.
“Implementation would cost about £30 per supporter per game. The bill would be footed by clubs, fans or sponsors—or a combination of the three,” Jonathan Northcroft writes.
“It is also estimated that getting every fan through the match-day tests and disinfectant turnstiles would take two hours, based on a 50,000-capacity stadium with multiple entry points and a modern layout.”
So because MLK was shot by a hateful maniac, his message is invalidated?
I'm not denying racism exists. And not just the kind that shoots an MLK. The worst is the "death of a thousand cuts" kind that happens every day when young black men - in particular - are treated differently than their peers. I get it. And I'm very open to looking for constructive ways to address the problem.
My point is that this looks to me like the wrong fight. It's stirring up division and hostility where none really existed before. And it's doing so for a purely symbolic victory. Nothing of substance will be accomplished, even by a complete victory. More to the point, I believe that resentment and anger only lead to more resentment and anger. We are trapped in an adversarial cycle and yes, I do believe Dr. King was right about the only way out being through unity love and nonviolence.
What I find richly ironic, though, is that you don't feel that "anyone has to concede an inch" on your side while you are demanding (yet again) for everyone who disagrees with you to capitulate completely.
I would think a simple history lesson should suffice for them to see how silly and perhaps disengenuous their demand is in relation to bigger & actually genuine racial injustices going on in this country.
I noticed a trend of you not answering questions by deflecting and attempting to change the conversation.
That comes off as very condescending.
It's not mutual if all of the parties from both sides don't want to be involved.
Forcing someone to do something is not "mutual"
No, his being shot in the head is proof that they can do things in ways that 40 years from now we'll view as justifiable, but in real time doing things "the right way" doesn't get them to where they want to go any more than it did for MLK.
Probably not a consolation but I had decided to drop my membership and discontinue my support for the Longhorn program after being being an avid supporter for 70 years. After reading your obviously well researched and detailed explanation of what the players (not just black players) were upset about I completely changed my mind and hope the Administration gets this done soon. I can't support contributions to BLM but donations to support advancement of people and police and societal reform is good with me.
Great now let me know when you are willing to take my season tickets off my hands for the $6,400 I paid.
I suppose they are done playing the wallpaper role.
If they don’t want to be involved, then I don’t want to be involved. Period.
I was an athlete for a bit, and getting to participate in The Eyes from the field looking up was one of the honors of my life. If they feel “forced” to participate in that show of mutual respect, I have no time for them.
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No. The origins of The Eyes of Texas are not FACTUALLY racist.
If your view is that anybody can imagine / decide anything is racist regardless of the facts, then you can (mis)characterize The Eyes of Texas as racist.
A fact-free reality is in nobody's interest. The standard for racism is more than imagination.
The Eyes of Texas:
There is no prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. There is no belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
Here is the factual origin of The Eyes of Texas: https://jimnicar.com/ut-traditions/the-eyes-of-texas/
The Eyes of Texas
Above: The University of Texas campus in the early 1900s.In the spring of 1902, Lewis Johnson was the student manager for just about every musical performance on the campus. Between classes, he played tuba in the Varsity Band, directed the University Chorus, and arranged for concerts on the Forty Acres. Most were in the 1,500 seat auditorium of the old Main Building, but in late March, Johnson wanted to try something new, and introduced a series of “Promenade Concerts.” Starting at 7p.m., the band strolled along the walk that circled the campus and played a variety of overtures, waltzes, and new marches by a popular composer named Sousa. The crowd followed along, listened, clapped, danced, and occasionally sang. A roving party, the concerts were a great success. “This promises to be the most popular entertainment ever provided for ‘Varsity people,” declared the Texan student newspaper.
Among the songs UT students sang were well-known college favorites, among them Fair Harvard, and Princeton’s Old Nassau. But the University had no song to call its own, for years a sore topic regularly discussed in the student newspapers. Though not a composer himself, Johnson decided to find a way to create one.
He first contacted alumni known to have literary talent, and hoped to recruit a volunteer to write a UT song, but received only polite refusals. Not one to give up easily, Johnson turned to his fellow students, specifically to fellow band member John Lang Sinclair. Sinclair was an editor of the Cactus yearbook, a regular contributor to the University of Texas Literary Magazine, and was widely known as the campus poet. Sinclair resisted at first, but Johnson continued to pester.
One evening in early May 1902, Johnson and Sinclair were returning from a comic opera performance in downtown Austin, when they stopped at Jacoby’s Beer Garden, just south of the campus on Lavaca Street. Johnson brought up the topic of a UT song once again and, perhaps with the help of Mr. Jacoby’s ales, Sinclair finally acquiesced to Johnson’s requests. They went to Sinclair’s room on the second floor of old Brackenridge Hall – popularly called “B. Hall,” the University’s first residence hall for men – stayed up all night, and finished the verses for Jolly Students of the ‘Varsity.Music (and inspiration) came from the nationally-known tune, Jolly Students of America. Johnson contacted the composer in Detroit for permission to use the music, while Sinclair re-fashioned the words and extended the song to six verses. The chorus was:
For we are jolly students of the ‘Varsity, the ‘Varsity!
We are a merry, merry crew.
We’ll show the chief of all policemen who we are
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Down on the Avenue.
In the 1900s, the term ” ‘varsity ” was a contraction of the word “university.” In the Lone Star State, students who attended ‘Varsity, were understood to be enrolled in the University of Texas, while those studying at the “College” were in the A&M College of Texas (as Texas A&M was then called). In the chorus, the Avenue referred to Congress Avenue downtown.
The Jolly Students was introduced at a concert in late May, and was instantly popular with UT students. But Johnson felt the song still lacked a distinct Texas identity. The following spring he prodded Sinclair to try again.
In March 1903, while Johnson waited in line at the University Post Office in the old Main Building, Sinclair arrived with a grin, quietly handed Johnson a folded scrap of brown paper torn from a wrapped bundle from Bosche’s Laundry in downtown Austin, and left. (Photo at left.) On it, scribbled in pencil with scratched-out lines and corrections, was the first draft of a poem:They watch above you all the day, the bright blue eyes of Texas.
At midnight they’re with you all the way, the sleepless eyes of Texas.
The eyes of Texas are upon you, all the livelong day.
The eyes of Texas are upon you. They’re with you all the way.
They watch you through the peaceful night. They watch you in the early dawn,
When from the eastern skies the high light, tells that the night is gone.
Sing me a song of Texas, and Texas’ myriad eyes.
Countless as the bright stars, that fill the midnight skies.
Vandyke brown, vermillion, sepia, Prussian blue,
Ivory black and crimson lac, and eyes of every hue.
Before Johnson read the last line, he knew Sinclair had produced something for the University that would last long after their time as students had passed. Set to the tune “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” Johnson and Sinclair prepared the song so it could be performed by the Varsity Quartet at its next show in May. As the work progressed, the two decided to make the song a spoof on UT President William Prather, and Sinclair made some significant revisions to the words.
Prather (photo at right) was a UT regent who was surprised by his fellow regents when they chose him to lead the University in 1899. He’d attended Washington College in Virginia (now Washington and Lee University), and often heard its president at the time, Robert E. Lee, tell his students, “Remember, the eyes of the South are upon you,” as he reminded them that they were the leaders of the future.Prather particularly liked this phrase, though apparently his talent for public speaking wasn’t popular with everyone. When Prather was tapped to be president, regent Russell Cowart wrote to his colleague, Tom Henderson, about the possibility of an inauguration ceremony for Prather: “I can see no reason why there should be any inauguration … I am afraid that the Dear Col. might inflict not only us but a suffering audience with a speech like the one he paralyzed us with when he came and was notified of his selection [to be president].” A ceremony was held anyway, and Prather concluded his talk with a plea to the students, “Always remember, the eyes of Texas are upon you.”
The speech was so well received, Prather decided to get all he could of it and ended most of his talks with the same phrase. The students, of course, picked up on it immediately, and it became an ongoing campus joke to chant, “Remember, the eyes of Texas are upon you!” at sporting events, concerts, and just about every social occasion. Prather took the good-natured kidding as it was intended. He knew that, at the least, the students were listening to him.
A Varsity minstrel show was scheduled for Wednesday evening, May 12, 1903, in the Hancock Opera House on West Sixth Street, and was packed with music, dances, skits, and even a tumbling act. Proceeds from the show would pay for the University Track team to attend the All-South Track and Field Competition in Atlanta.
Leading off the show was an overture by the Varsity Band, followed by songs titled Oh, The Lovely Girls, Old Kentucky Home and The Castle on the Nile performed by the University Chorus or student soloists. The fourth piece listed on the printed program was cryptically labeled a “Selection” by the Varsity Quartet.
With President Prather sitting in the audience, four students: Jim Kivlehen, Ralph Porter, Bill Smith and Jim Cannon, accompanied by John Lang Sinclair on the banjo, took the stage and unleashed Sinclair’s creation:
I once did know a President, a way down South, in Texas.
And, always, everywhere he went, he saw the Eyes of Texas.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you, all the livelong day.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you, you cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them, at night or early in the morn –
The Eyes of Texas are upon you, ’til Gabriel blows his horn.
Sing me a song of Prexy, of days long since gone by.
Again I seek to greet him, and hear his kind reply.
Smiles of gracious welcome, before my memory rise,
Again I hear him say to me, “Remember Texas’ Eyes.”
Before the first verse was finished, the crowd was in an uproar. By the end of the song, the audience was pounding the floor and demanding so many encores that members of the quartet grew hoarse and had to sing We’re Tired Out. The Varsity Band learned the tune, and the following evening included The Eyes on its Promenade Concert around the campus.
(The earliest recording of The Eyes of Texas was made in 1928 by the Longhorn Band. Listen to it – as well as the first recording of “Texas Fight” – here.)
Prather, though, had the last laugh. Less than a month after the minstrel show, on June 10th, spring commencement ceremonies were held in the auditorium of Old Main. Prather made his farewell speech to the senior class, and turned the joke back on them. “And now, young ladies and gentlemen, in the words of your own poet, remember that the eyes of Texas are upon you.” The seniors gave Prather a standing ovation, and the University of Texas had a song it could call its own.
And the UT track team won the All-South meet in Atlanta, it’s first victory in a regional competition.
You've got it wrong calling me a t-shirt fan. I've also been a season ticket holder for almost 20 years, every year since graduating, and a foundation member for most of those years. I'm a 3rd generation UT grad. My grandparents were foundation members every single year it existing beginning year 1 until they passed away. I also worked hard to get into and to graduate from UT. I have missed a total of one home game since 1998.
How ironic that you are the one questioning my loyalty and devotion to the university, when you are the one who is threatening to pull your support, pull your donation, and to stop going to games over a single 30-second long post-game ritual if you don't get your way. I experience that type of "take my ball and go home if I don't get my way" behavior often... with my 8 year old son and my 5 year old daughter.
The only way I won't be in the stands this fall is if Covid keeps me from being allowed to attend. It will take more than the changing of a post game ritual to keep me from supporting my team and my university. What is it about your lack of dedication and commitment to the team and university that you can't say the same?
Pathetic narrative that is already dividing us. The song has ZERO to do with racism and anyone who says otherwise is ridiculous.
The players have the right to make a stand but if they are unwilling to sing the Eyes of Texas then IMO they should not receive all the benefits and perks associated with wearing Texas across their chest. No one is forcing them to come to Texas or stay for that matter. If the players cannot understand that the song lyrics are not racist and have deeper unifying meaning than the dividing narrative they have interjected into the media, then they should feel free to take their talent elsewhere. We all have options here. If the players’ demands have already tarnished or will tarnish the tradition of the Eyes if Texas, then I will chose to use my only voice in this matter and will gladly donate my money to the University’s academic institution instead of the athletic program. The players can then live with the ramifications of their actions just like all other adults have to do in the real world.
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See my other response from this morning. You can do better than this.
One performance of a non-racist song at one minstrel show doesn't begin to embody or define racism:
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
Miss the point much? Nice straw man and attempt to reframe the argument away from your internet fodder of a offer to gladly take my tickets off my hand.
Funny because i actually pointed out an example of why this could be not very well thought out and thus could be derided as a whim.
And since my original post points out that you yourself deflect and attempt to change the conversation (in the above case, use of the word whim), I’m glad that you can admit that you are condescending.
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In the case of The Eyes of Texas, there WAS no toothpaste.
If the players don't want The Eyes of Texas played at the end of games, we can serenade them with golf claps if they win, or boo the crap out of them if they lose. Problem solved.
Texas was a slave state. We should advocate changing the name of the state and university to something without racial overtones. Isn’t this a logical extension of their demands?
BTW, I propose the state of Vagina and the University of Vagina for consideration.
BTW, I propose the state of Vagina and the University of Vagina for consideration.
Well, I’ve been in the same seats in Section 6 for 35 years, been on OB for about 20, so considerable time I guess.
Perception is reality. The song is now associated with racial undertones, even though nearly all of us agree that the song has not had that meaning for at least 100 years, if ever.
I'm not sure that's time for them.
That sounds like time for you masquerading as time for them.
Question...
If the song did have some racial undertones 117 years ago, at least in its creation/original performance, didn't it really always have racial undertones in these last 100 years and we just won't acknowledge it because we've been aloof to it?
Yeah, probably so. Who am I to make that call, right even it seems it's a hypersensitive over reaction. However, I do think its wrong to cancel the song that lyrically has no racial overtones and jcancel it just because it was performed as a blackfaced minstril once upon a very, very long time ago. So what!? Let's keep historical perspective here for crying out loud.
