UT Athletes demand removal of racist song

[MCMLXXX]

 

https://247sports.com/Article/Texas-Longhorns-athletes-suggest-school-song-The-Eyes-of-Texas-be-replaced-renaming-buildings-remove-statues-racial-injustice-George-Floyd-death-148117419/

[El Paso Eagle]

Yet the music played in the locker rooms is not offensive 

[Cougar King]

24 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Yet the music played in the locker rooms is not offensive 

Nice racist dogwhistle. I'm going to take a quick pause on trolling and break from the Cougar King character (yes, this is me playing a character whenever I'm bored) and be my actual self since this is a serious time and topic.

 

 

As a person of color, all I have been seeing from some people, especially Boomers like yourself (when I say Boomers, I don't mean just white people since I have no idea what color you are, but ANY person from the old generation.) are these microaggressions and whataboutisms. All you have to do is SIT DOWN and LISTEN! LISTEN to what people are saying. 

Look at what guys like Abner Haynes and Mean Joe went through at NTSU in the 1960s. YOU HAVE PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD THAT WERE STUDENTS THEN. IT WAS NOT THAT LONG AGO.

Dude, there is still a lot of racism out there and deflecting like this is being a part of the problem and not a part of the solution!!!!

 

MAKING SNIDE REMARKS AND IMMEDIATELY DISMISSING THINGS MAKES YOU NO BETTER THAN THOSE IN THE 60s WHO WERE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY.

AND YES IT WAS BLATANTLY OBVIOUS WHAT YOU WERE REFERRING TO WHEN YOU MADE A REFERENECE TO "MUSIC IN THE LOCKER ROOM."

 

Remember, many players and potential recruits plus their parents read this board. You need to sit down and take a self-reflection.

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Cougar King

[El Paso Eagle]

21 minutes ago, Cougar King said:

Nice racist dogwhistle. I'm going to take a quick pause on trolling and break from the Cougar King character (yes, this is me playing a character whenever I'm bored) and be my actual self since this is a serious time and topic.

 

 

As a person of color, all I have been seeing from some people, especially Boomers like yourself (when I say Boomers, I don't mean just white people since I have no idea what color you are, but ANY person from the old generation.) are these microaggressions and whataboutisms. All you have to do is SIT DOWN and LISTEN! LISTEN to what people are saying. 

Look at what guys like Abner Haynes and Mean Joe went through at NTSU in the 1960s. YOU HAVE PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD THAT WERE STUDENTS THEN. IT WAS NOT THAT LONG AGO.

Dude, there is still a lot of racism out there and deflecting like this is being a part of the problem and not a part of the solution!!!!

 

MAKING SNIDE REMARKS AND IMMEDIATELY DISMISSING THINGS MAKES YOU NO BETTER THAN THOSE IN THE 60s WHO WERE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY.

AND YES IT WAS BLATANTLY OBVIOUS WHAT YOU WERE REFERRING TO WHEN YOU MADE A REFERENECE TO "MUSIC IN THE LOCKER ROOM."

 

Remember, many players and potential recruits plus their parents read this board. You need to sit down and take a self-reflection.

 

Typical, if I do not agree I am being racist. You do not know me or anything about me. What as ass you are.

If your not willing to hear other opinions then you are part of the problem. Everything someone you do not agree with does is not racist, that is just a lazy way to defect differences of opinions.  So please feel free to STFU

[El Paso Eagle]

27 minutes ago, Cougar King said:

 

As a person of color, all I have been seeing from some people, especially Boomers like yourself (when I say Boomers, I don't mean just white people since I have no idea what color you are, but ANY person from the old generation.) are these microaggressions and whataboutisms. All you have to do is SIT DOWN and LISTEN! LISTEN to what people are saying. 

 

 

So not only are you throwing around "racist" with no factual evidence than I find something objectionable, You admit your ageist. So because "Boomers" do not fit the profile you like THEY must be wrong. Here's a thought, maybe all sides should be willing to listen and not just one side allowed to have an opinion and speak. 

[Milo]

So prior to George Floyd, did anyone think The Eyes of Texas was even the slightest bit racist?

[El Paso Eagle]

4 minutes ago, Milo said:

So prior to George Floyd, did anyone think The Eyes of Texas was even the slightest bit racist?

This is what I was able to find

The letter also called for Texas to stop using its traditional song "The Eyes of Texas," which has been criticized for its connection to minstrel shows with characters in blackface in the early 1900s. The song is regularly sung at nearly every organized campus event and players in all sports gather as team to sing it after every game.

[Milo]

6 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

This is what I was able to find

The letter also called for Texas to stop using its traditional song "The Eyes of Texas," which has been criticized for its connection to minstrel shows with characters in blackface in the early 1900s. The song is regularly sung at nearly every organized campus event and players in all sports gather as team to sing it after every game.

What

[wardly]

Guys, we all need to stop generalizing . I am white, grew up in segregation Ft. Worth during the 50''s and 60's, and never went to school with a person of color until my freshman year at NTSU in 1961.And I certainly didn't come from money.  I don't like rap, opera, heavy metal, and most country music. My 35 year career was in sales and distribution of Orthopaedic total joint implants, where I met only 2 surgeons of color. I belonged to a country club in Dallas for 19 years which didn't have a member of color. All the while I sat on the sidelines of integration . I have been fortunate enough late in life to count 3 African Americans as friends, and realize the America I live in is not the same as theirs. My observation at age 77 is that while  I don't know what it's like to be a person of color, I do know right from wrong.

[RiseUNT]

8 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Yet the music played in the locker rooms is not offensive 

Offensive to who?

[RiseUNT]

7 hours ago, Milo said:

So prior to George Floyd, did anyone think The Eyes of Texas was even the slightest bit racist?

Yes

[NM Green]

What wha. The eyes of Texas racist?  Never heard color in that song but that’s just me. Feel blessed to have been raised colorblind. All people could be good bad and evil.

GMG

[RiseUNT]

Why does stuff like this bother people so much?

People want something done their way?

1. Give in and accept change.

Or

2. Say no.

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by RiseUNT

[Green Crazy]

8 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

This is what I was able to find

The letter also called for Texas to stop using its traditional song "The Eyes of Texas," which has been criticized for its connection to minstrel shows with characters in blackface in the early 1900s. The song is regularly sung at nearly every organized campus event and players in all sports gather as team to sing it after every game.

I've been trying to figure out why as well. This is from wikipedia, so take it for what it's worth. Also, from wikipedia, it said the song debuted at one of those shows but nothing else. 

"The lyrics are said to be intended to poke fun at University President Colonel Prather. Prather had attended Washington College, now Washington and Lee University, whose president, Robert E. Lee, would frequently tell his students, "the eyes of the South are upon you." Prather was known for including in his speeches a similar admonition, "The eyes of Texas are upon you," meaning that the state of Texas was watching and expecting the students to go out and do great things."

Edited June 13, 2020 by Green Crazy

[Travis]

Some of those requests seem very legitimate.  There are a few I am not so sure of. 

[RBP79]

13 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Nice racist dogwhistle. I'm going to take a quick pause on trolling and break from the Cougar King character (yes, this is me playing a character whenever I'm bored) and be my actual self since this is a serious time and topic.

 

 

As a person of color, all I have been seeing from some people, especially Boomers like yourself (when I say Boomers, I don't mean just white people since I have no idea what color you are, but ANY person from the old generation.) are these microaggressions and whataboutisms. All you have to do is SIT DOWN and LISTEN! LISTEN to what people are saying. 

Look at what guys like Abner Haynes and Mean Joe went through at NTSU in the 1960s. YOU HAVE PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD THAT WERE STUDENTS THEN. IT WAS NOT THAT LONG AGO.

Dude, there is still a lot of racism out there and deflecting like this is being a part of the problem and not a part of the solution!!!!

 

MAKING SNIDE REMARKS AND IMMEDIATELY DISMISSING THINGS MAKES YOU NO BETTER THAN THOSE IN THE 60s WHO WERE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY.

AND YES IT WAS BLATANTLY OBVIOUS WHAT YOU WERE REFERRING TO WHEN YOU MADE A REFERENECE TO "MUSIC IN THE LOCKER ROOM."

 

Remember, many players and potential recruits plus their parents read this board. You need to sit down and take a self-reflection.

 

This whole statement can be viewed as racist.....LOL. But I forget....my existence is racist to some because of the color of my skin or period of my birth. You young'ns...just wish I was as smart as you think you are.

 

[greenjoe]

It's really not a very imaginative song.

The eyes of Texas are upon you                                  I've been working on the railroad

All the live long day                                                        All the live long day

The eyes of Texas are upon you                                 I've been working on the railroad

You cannot get away                                                    Just to pass the time away

Do not think you can escape them                             Can't you hear the whistle blowing

At night or early in the morn                                         Rise up so early in the morn

The eyes of Texas are upon you                                  Can't you hear the captain shouting

'til Gabriel blows his horn                                              Dinah blow your horn

 

 

this didn’t come out the way I had hoped.  I had both lyrics side by side showing how similar The Eyes of Texas is to Railroad.  Just not a good song.  Glory to the Green is much better thought out.  J

Edited June 13, 2020 by greenjoe

[BillySee58]

For those that want to want to actually learn about the basis of the claim, here’s a really good short video on it.

Also, former Mean Green and Longhorn football player Darius Terrell had a comment to make on the subject.

And if you look up the original lyrics of “I Been Working on the Railroad” you will get an idea of what he means.

[DeepGreen]

So let me get this straight, some of the lyrics to Texas’ fight song is offensive to some/many people. Yet rap music, which to me has poisoned many of our youth for many, many years, depicting rape, death, sex, sexual body connotations, killings, etc., is OK??  
 

Got it.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

14 hours ago, Milo said:

So prior to George Floyd, did anyone think The Eyes of Texas was even the slightest bit racist?

Yes

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

23 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

So let me get this straight, some of the lyrics to Texas’ fight song is offensive to some/many people. Yet rap music, which to me has poisoned many of our youth for many, many years, depicting rape, death, sex, sexual body connotations, killings, etc., is OK??  
 

Got it.

Nobody demanding change said that violent rap should is held up to the standard and represent the whole school.

You and El Paso Green are saying that - then arguing that side - trying to invalidate the initial argument. It is up to the AD and Coaches to limit what is played in their locker room. 

It's up to the students at UT to try and change what is played at their school events. This isn't rocket science. 

Trying to get a UT-centric-minstrel song to be removed is not an attack on white culture and your white ego. It is only about their school's history.  

Edited June 13, 2020 by SteaminWillieBeamin
..

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

 

[SilverEagle]

On 6/12/2020 at 7:18 PM, Milo said:

So prior to George Floyd, did anyone think The Eyes of Texas was even the slightest bit racist?

Well no, but I always thought that it represented an arrogant and overbearing group of people. 

BUT since this has all come up, AND after re-reading the words to "The Eyes of Texas". It does sound like a song that was originally written for people who were the overseers of slaves and then later (slightly) adapted by UT as it's Alma Mater.

Edited June 15, 2020 by SilverEagle

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

https://gen.medium.com/dinah-put-down-your-horn-154b8d8db12a

I've been in favor of not teaching minstrel music to my kids...

http://newfangleddad.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-dark-history-of-ive-been-working-on.html?m=1

It's long been a topic way before Mr. Floyd's murder.

Edited June 13, 2020 by SteaminWillieBeamin
...

[emmitt01]

43 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

So let me get this straight, some of the lyrics to Texas’ fight song is offensive to some/many people. Yet rap music, which to me has poisoned many of our youth for many, many years, depicting rape, death, sex, sexual body connotations, killings, etc., is OK??  
 

Got it.

If I attend a UT event I have no choice but to hear “the eyes of Texas” at least 70 times.  Rap music, maybe I do and maybe I don’t.  And, to be more specific to the actual argument these athletes are making, if I was an athlete at UT I would have no choice but to sing “the eyes of Texas” while participating in singing rap lyrics is, again, not compulsory.  

I also think that the straw man you put up ignores something that most straw men lately (like “black on black crime” and “what about Chicago”) ignore.  It is entirely possible to be against two things at once.  What if a UT athlete considers “the eyes of Texas” offensive AND considers modern rap music offensive?