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Texas athletes petitioning University to replace "The Eyes of Texas" and to no longer require athletes to sing it

Goo Punch

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TXSG8R

TXSG8R 3362

Posted
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33 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

They requested to change the song and to not require players to sing it. But let’s be honest. The team not singing the eyes of Texas is going to be super weird if the crowd continues to sing especially knowing why the Team is no longer singing the it. Let’s throw in another scenario. What  if players start kneeling during the song at the beginning of the game? 


 

 

I think most people would interpret the sub-bullet to mean that if they dont get a replacement, at least absolve the players from having to participate.  They are offering a compromise, probably because they knew the reaction would be largely like this thread.  

Your scenario is a variant of whats happening now.  Players are expressing displeasure.  The rest of that scenario is out of their hands.  Some people will try to understand it.  Some people will complain that their dads and granddads fought in wars for that song.  

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Deej
Deej

Considering it is sung to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad", shouldn't the Chinese students be the ones with the problem?

NorthLoop
NorthLoop

I'm a Trump hating liberal and hope the Republican party withers and dies before my children are of voting age.  That being said....  The song isn't racist. The bullshit 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon

crash_davis
crash_davis

I don't like some if the demands but I'm not a black athlete representing the University of Texas. I don't know what it's like to deal with the fucked up system that they've grown up under.  Fuck

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DoobieWah

DoobieWah 1528

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1 hour ago, Fuck Tim Beck said:

 

The team will never be able to play anywhere but DKR after this because at some point they would have to cross

 

DKR!!!???

Are you referring to that stadium named after the white coach of the last all white national championship team? Shirley you jest.

 

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Js1

Js1 86939

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, DoobieWah said:

DKR!!!???

Are you referring to that stadium named after the white coach of the last all white national championship team? Shirley you jest.

 

I believe it will be changed to BLM/post-slavery Texas Memorial Center for Emerging African American Youth Sports Activities for Future Professional Careers. 

No white people allowed. Sorry, did we not mention that? 

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gmr548

gmr548 16681

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I thought the athletes request was at a minimum, to not be forced to sing the song after games?  That seems reasonable.  How did some of you jump from that to burning down the campus or the US constitution?  
New here, are you?
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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49909

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Posted (edited)

Not a fan of Bobby Burton, but 100% agree with this take -- one of the best things that I've seen on "The Eyes of Texas" removal request.

 Thanks for finding this @satyanash 

Bobby Burton: Monday

Quote

Like many of you, I read with interest the list of demands/terms that dozens of UT student athletes put out on Twitter late last week. But unlike some of you, I had actually read a strikingly similar list that was first put forward by the UT Student Senate earlier that day. As I read the student senate list first, only one item really took me by surprise. And that’s The Eyes of Texas. The student senate wrote that they want the “discontinuation” of the Eyes at university events.

At first, I couldn’t understand it. For me, The Eyes had always been a song of unity. Win or lose, Longhorns stand together at the end of games in unison. That unity and togetherness stands for something. We all know it’s harder to beat a team that stands as one than one that is divided. And to me “The Eyes of Texas are upon you” meant that we all had a duty to do our best, to be our best self as part of Longhorn nation. The song made a statement to me that few school fight songs even attempt to make.

But here’s the deal. Until last week, I never, ever thought of the song as having an inkling of racist intent, underpinnings or origin. Sure, it was played to the tune of I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, but even the lyrics to that song, I’ve sang them before and I always considered it an expression of a working man’s song to me, not some sort of affront or disrespect to people of color. My dad taught that song to me just like he taught me The Eyes.

Yet, there was the information on the web about the origin of the song that was clear as day. Both the song and the tune had - at the very least - some racist underpinnings in its origin. Frankly, I was shocked. I feel like I know quite a bit about our university but I seriously had never considered the Eyes as racist or even uncomfortable to a segment of the Longhorn nation.

One could even argue that while there were racist origins of the song that it’s hard to find any song or really any long-running institution in America that doesn’t have some mark of slavery or oppression attached to it, and therefore that we should all be ok with the song since it’s not sung that way now.

Like I said, I always felt like the song was sung as one of unity and that was the feeling it evoked in me. Yet, now it’s clear it doesn’t stand for unity anymore. It is no longer a song of solidarity, not if a significant number of students in the general population and student athletes alike, as well as many alums, don’t feel the same way or feel disenfranchised by it. I can’t change that. You can’t change that.

No matter your take on the topic, you can’t change how those students and student athletes feel. And I don’t want to sing a song that disenfranchises others. The university is about inclusion, unity, duty and truth. So as you think about this topic yourself, all I’d ask is if you want to sing a song that doesn’t feel inclusive to all UT students, alumni and fans?

**

I don’t know what the Board of Regents will ultimately decide. I texted with a board member this weekend. I will say I suspect that The Eyes request from the student senate is perhaps the one element that caught some of them more off guard than other requests. Perhaps there’s a compromise in there of some sort. Perhaps there’s not. I just want whatever song is sang at UT events to be one of unity.

 

Edited by LTtxfan
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Js1

Js1 86939

Posted
Posted
Just now, SwanderedTalent said:

oh, don't be silly!!!! our money's not racist

I mean depending on what we do with it, I guess

No no no. See you are going to be forced to buy tickets with your money and them give them away to a minority. Sorry. New rules. 

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SwanderedTalent

SwanderedTalent 5761

Posted
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1 minute ago, Js1 said:

No no no. See you are going to be forced to buy tickets with your money and them give them away to a minority. Sorry. New rules. 

It will be really interesting to see how this plays out in terms of fan interest. It should-- should-- be much harder to walk away from college football than it was the NBA and NFL, but it doesn't feel like it will be.

I feel like we're in the middle of a baseball game and suddenly the outfield and infield are arguing about whether third base is racist. I find one half of the argument stupid and frankly offensive but I'm not interested in joining in the yelling. So as long as the exits are open, OK, fine. 

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Alien Octopus

Alien Octopus 630

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9 hours ago, OU Sucks said:

Uh what?  First off, I was just giving some random scenario because the poster continually stated BLM should be protesting all the black on black killings, too.  The point I was trying to make was that if that's the case, white people should protest all the white on white murders when they protest something, too (the stat is something like 82% white/white murders vs 90% black/black murders -- very similar and a strange stat to try to build some kind of argument around).  I think after watching the video and having the cops walk free for days with no charges, it was perfectly fine for people to protest when they did.  When this pattern happens time after time after time, do you really think people need to wait a year and half until the cop is acquitted to protest?  Chances are the cops wouldn't have even been charged had there not been any public reaction.

Nah, you were being a smart ass, jacking with stats to make your point. Stats are pretty straight forward, you don’t have to torture them to see the truth.   No side shows needed. 

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Js1

Js1 86939

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12 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

It will be really interesting to see how this plays out in terms of fan interest. It should-- should-- be much harder to walk away from college football than it was the NBA and NFL, but it doesn't feel like it will be.

I feel like we're in the middle of a baseball game and suddenly the outfield and infield are arguing about whether third base is racist. I find one half of the argument stupid and frankly offensive but I'm not interested in joining in the yelling. So as long as the exits are open, OK, fine. 

Everyone knows first base is racist bc they  keep trying to catch ya stealing 

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OU Sucks

OU Sucks 9325

Posted
Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, Alien Octopus said:

Nah, you were being a smart ass, jacking with stats to make your point. Stats are pretty straight forward, you don’t have to torture them to see the truth.   No side shows needed. 

Holy shit, what the fuck are you talking about??  You were the one saying BLM should be protesting black on black violence.  I pointed out how ridiculous that was based on their focus being on police brutality, blacks being treated differently, and there being virtually no difference between black on black and white on white violence, and yet I'm the smart ass?  I literally quoted FBI stats...I didn't "jack" with them.

Edited by OU Sucks
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Tex Long

Tex Long 4614

Posted
Posted

 

10 minutes ago, Llano Estacado said:

You paying with Grants or Franklins?

 

I was corrected about this a while back. Both slave-owners, do not use those notes.

Not that it matters much, as we're likely to see cash done away with before too long, but in the meantime, $5 and $10 only.

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gyroprotagonist

gyroprotagonist 2597

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18 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Not a fan of Bobby Burton, but 100% agree with this take -- one of the best things that I've seen on "The Eyes of Texas" removal request.

 Thanks for finding this @satyanash 

Bobby Burton: Monday

 

Quote

No matter your take on the topic, you can’t change how those students and student athletes feel. And I don’t want to sing a song that disenfranchises others. The university is about inclusion, unity, duty and truth. So as you think about this topic yourself, all I’d ask is if you want to sing a song that doesn’t feel inclusive to all UT students, alumni and fans?

re-quoting your bolded part.  I have not read the previous 30 pages, only the first 2-3 of this thread but this sums up my opinion.  Despite what you feel is true in your heart on what the song means to you, others may have a different opinion.  Does that mean the song has to go?  maybe, maybe not, maybe go fuck yourself; but this seems pretty significant and a small price to pay to bring some unity to the campus.  call me a bad alum, but IDGAF if the song goes away or not.  I loved the tradition of singing it at the end of games, especially after a RRS victory seeing the crimson clad cockroaches fleeing the CB.  But I think i'll be OK if we replace it with something else.

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MrBig

MrBig 5602

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Posted
31 minutes ago, US183 said:

B-B-Q is a racist phrase and the University of Texas must not associate with any person or institution which supports it or eats it. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/04/barbecue-american-tradition-enslaved-africans-native-americans

 

The article does not say BBQ is a racist phrase.

The article says enslaved Native Americans and Africans were forced to cook it for their captors.

These people were cooking BBQ long before they were enslaved.

We weren’t singing The Eyes of Texas before that minstrel show.

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GottaB

GottaB 604

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Posted
Song isn't racist so people singing it aren't racist douchebags. Your statement is confusing. 

Im sorry but because someone insists on singing the song and not being silenced doesn't mean they have racist intent.  It only takes 3 seconds of thinking to come up with a conclusion like that.

Have you ever sang The Eyes? If so, I assume you are racist then?



I have sang the song. A lot. Decades worth and I never thought of it as racist and I don’t do it with racist intent. I don’t begrudge anyone singing the song.

What I was saying is that IF. And that is a big IF. IF We as a community decide this indeed is a song with racist roots and is truly offensive to our students and specifically to our student athletes, and come to the agreement to replace our song, we all know there will be racist douchebags that will continue to sing it, not just out of habit or tradition, but as a mean spirited dig at the black athletes. And it sucks that we have racist douchebags.
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stone oak

stone oak 639

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Posted
1 hour ago, SwanderedTalent said:

Texas was a slave state, adopted the Texas flag before abolition, and flew it during its years in the Confederacy. How can these kids possibly be expected to play football if we continue to unfurl a gigantic State Flag of Texas before each game? Or fly it in the stadium at all? 

Even better, why are we flying the Stars and Bars at the stadium? Talk about tone deaf...

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David Dennison

David Dennison 19441

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, stone oak said:

Wrong. They have been on top of godzillatron since 2007.

I thought they were replaced with American flags after Charlottesville.

Either way, they won't be returning.

Also, FWIW, the Stars and Bars is the national flag of the Confederacy, not the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Edited by David Dennison
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gmr548

gmr548 16681

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Posted
It will be really interesting to see how this plays out in terms of fan interest. It should-- should-- be much harder to walk away from college football than it was the NBA and NFL, but it doesn't feel like it will be.
I feel like we're in the middle of a baseball game and suddenly the outfield and infield are arguing about whether third base is racist. I find one half of the argument stupid and frankly offensive but I'm not interested in joining in the yelling. So as long as the exits are open, OK, fine. 
Hard to walk away from? I've walked away by November for nine of the past ten years.
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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Not a fan of Bobby Burton, but 100% agree with this take -- one of the best things that I've seen on "The Eyes of Texas" removal request.

 Thanks for finding this @satyanash 

Bobby Burton: Monday

 

the song unifies hundreds of thousands, while it potentially "disenfranchises" a very small minority of people who *just* found out that some guy from 150 years was racist and suddenly decided they were too woke to stand for singing a song that he wrote (better boycott the anthem too). i don't think any decent person wants to do anything that makes a group of people feel disenfranchised, but the fact that a small minority of woke zealots suddenly decided that this song hurts their feelings is *not* a valid reason to end this tradition that has meant so much good for so many hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. 

how many famous and celebrated musicians in the last 100 years have been drunks, drug addicts, philanderers, liars, cheaters, womanizers, rapists, and criminals? did we all rush to stop listening to their music? nope. same goes for Hollywood. how many of your favorite movies were produced/made by anyone associated with Harvey Weinstein or any other of Hollywood's slimeballs? How many of our favorite actors are just as bad as those musicians? have we boycotted Hollywood? no, we have not.

Like I said from the beginning, 90% or more of what our athletes are asking for is totally on point, and needed, and long overdue. but the super weak reasoning for doing away with The Eyes does not come close to being a valid reason to end this tradition. It just doesn't. I know that that's not what the kids want to jeRX but the kids also want all black uniforms, a different shade of orange, and goofy stickers on the helmets. This attempt to get rid of The Eyes is a bridge too far. I will never be on board with it for many, many obvious reasons. 

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John Lawrence

John Lawrence 244

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Posted
On 6/14/2020 at 11:21 AM, Patricio Swayze said:


It’s just stupid and makes no sense. Latin based languages have gender. Are the people who insist on using Latinx going to change all the Latin based languages? Haha

Anyways, not to derail the topic...

Órale, vatinx!

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John Lawrence

John Lawrence 244

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Posted
On 6/14/2020 at 12:44 PM, Hiphopopotamos said:

I’d like to introduce you to ‘The War on Drugs’. 

Now go go look at drug use by teens by race. 

Then go look at arrest/conviction rates for drug use by race. 

Then go look at sentencing by race. 

Only 2 percent of black males are in prison.  It does not account for a significant percentage of absentee dads.

Citing drug use by race is very misleading.  People in prison for drugs are almost always dealers.  Not users.  Because the dealers are the ones with the weight dealers are the ones targeted.  Cops target Avon and Marlo, not Bubbles.

 

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Hiphopopotamos

Hiphopopotamos 21158

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8 minutes ago, John Lawrence said:

Only 2 percent of black males are in prison.  It does not account for a significant percentage of absentee dads.

Citing drug use by race is very misleading.  People in prison for drugs are almost always dealers.  Not users.  Because the dealers are the ones with the weight dealers are the ones targeted.  Cops target Avon and Marlo, not Bubbles.

 

The percentage of African American males with felony convictions went from 10% in 1980 to 33% in 2010. 

Then you have to account for African American males not convicted but sitting in jail cells because they can't afford the increased bail given to AA defendants.  Most people in jail haven't been convicted of a crime.  

20% of people in prison are there for drug offenses.

Of all drug arrests the last few years - more than 80% are for drug possession - fewer than 15% were for manufacture or sale of a drug.

 

 

 

 

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OU Sucks

OU Sucks 9325

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Posted (edited)
51 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

the song unifies hundreds of thousands, while it potentially "disenfranchises" a very small minority of people who *just* found out that some guy from 150 years was racist and suddenly decided they were too woke to stand for singing a song that he wrote (better boycott the anthem too). i don't think any decent person wants to do anything that makes a group of people feel disenfranchised, but the fact that a small minority of woke zealots suddenly decided that this song hurts their feelings is *not* a valid reason to end this tradition that has meant so much good for so many hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. 

how many famous and celebrated musicians in the last 100 years have been drunks, drug addicts, philanderers, liars, cheaters, womanizers, rapists, and criminals? did we all rush to stop listening to their music? nope. same goes for Hollywood. how many of your favorite movies were produced/made by anyone associated with Harvey Weinstein or any other of Hollywood's slimeballs? How many of our favorite actors are just as bad as those musicians? have we boycotted Hollywood? no, we have not.

Like I said from the beginning, 90% or more of what our athletes are asking for is totally on point, and needed, and long overdue. but the super weak reasoning for doing away with The Eyes does not come close to being a valid reason to end this tradition. It just doesn't. I know that that's not what the kids want to jeRX but the kids also want all black uniforms, a different shade of orange, and goofy stickers on the helmets. This attempt to get rid of The Eyes is a bridge too far. I will never be on board with it for many, many obvious reasons. 

Well, that "very small minority" also happens to be a very large majority of your football and basketball teams, so there's that.  And keeping turditions for the sake of turditions is so aggy.  It's a song...it can be replaced with something that doesn't make our football team feel like they don't matter.  Make a new tradition.  You're not supporting the football/basketball team if you don't support them as people, and who is a white dude to tell them how they should feel or that they can't have a new opinion because they "just" found out about the song's origins?  Moreover, it's been cited several times that people have had issues with the song before, so you can't definitively say how many "just" found out about it.

"Drunks, drug addicts, philanderers, liars, cheaters, womanizers, rapists, and criminals" have zero to do with making an entire group of people feel unwelcome.  And yes, plenty of people stopped supporting the list of people you mentioned.

Edited by OU Sucks
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Eugene11

Eugene11 379

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

the song unifies hundreds of thousands, while it potentially "disenfranchises" a very small minority of people who *just* found out that some guy from 150 years was racist and suddenly decided they were too woke to stand for singing a song that he wrote (better boycott the anthem too). i don't think any decent person wants to do anything that makes a group of people feel disenfranchised, but the fact that a small minority of woke zealots suddenly decided that this song hurts their feelings is *not* a valid reason to end this tradition that has meant so much good for so many hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. 

how many famous and celebrated musicians in the last 100 years have been drunks, drug addicts, philanderers, liars, cheaters, womanizers, rapists, and criminals? did we all rush to stop listening to their music? nope. same goes for Hollywood. how many of your favorite movies were produced/made by anyone associated with Harvey Weinstein or any other of Hollywood's slimeballs? How many of our favorite actors are just as bad as those musicians? have we boycotted Hollywood? no, we have not.

Like I said from the beginning, 90% or more of what our athletes are asking for is totally on point, and needed, and long overdue. but the super weak reasoning for doing away with The Eyes does not come close to being a valid reason to end this tradition. It just doesn't. I know that that's not what the kids want to jeRX but the kids also want all black uniforms, a different shade of orange, and goofy stickers on the helmets. This attempt to get rid of The Eyes is a bridge too far. I will never be on board with it for many, many obvious reasons. 

You have made mention several times that “people JUST found out” Or lJUST realized”. As well as mention “ very small minority”. Both of these comments completely devalue any other argument you may have (and in my opinion make it absurd).

Just finding out is in no way an excuse for wrong doing. It’s the farthest thing from it and complete insensitive and quite frankly a stupid argument. “I robbed the bank and shot someone. I’m excused  though because I didn’t know you couldn’t do that. Carry on.”

ignorance is not an excuse.

 

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gyroprotagonist

gyroprotagonist 2597

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

the song unifies hundreds of thousands, while it potentially "disenfranchises" a very small minority of people who *just* found out that some guy from 150 years was racist and suddenly decided they were too woke to stand for singing a song that he wrote (better boycott the anthem too). i don't think any decent person wants to do anything that makes a group of people feel disenfranchised, but the fact that a small minority of woke zealots suddenly decided that this song hurts their feelings is *not* a valid reason to end this tradition that has meant so much good for so many hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. 

how many famous and celebrated musicians in the last 100 years have been drunks, drug addicts, philanderers, liars, cheaters, womanizers, rapists, and criminals? did we all rush to stop listening to their music? nope. same goes for Hollywood. how many of your favorite movies were produced/made by anyone associated with Harvey Weinstein or any other of Hollywood's slimeballs? How many of our favorite actors are just as bad as those musicians? have we boycotted Hollywood? no, we have not.

Like I said from the beginning, 90% or more of what our athletes are asking for is totally on point, and needed, and long overdue. but the super weak reasoning for doing away with The Eyes does not come close to being a valid reason to end this tradition. It just doesn't. I know that that's not what the kids want to jeRX but the kids also want all black uniforms, a different shade of orange, and goofy stickers on the helmets. This attempt to get rid of The Eyes is a bridge too far. I will never be on board with it for many, many obvious reasons. 

I just wonder where the current team is in all this.  If the "very small minority" is only 85 out of the 50K students, then depending on how overlapping the ven diagram is between those 85 people and the football team, you could still have a big problem no matter how unifying and awesome the Eyes is.  singing the Eyes is awesome.  Love it.  I get chills standing in a crowd seeing the raised hook'em horns hands bob forward to emphasize the 'til Gabriel blows his horn' at the end (fuck people who do it the whole song).  But again, having all the athletes, corches, former players, former alumnus on board with it seems like a big deal.  UT could always just run off or alienate the ones that don't get in line, but is that in line with the university's mission?  

And to your point, can we please stop playing Gary Glitter before a kickoff?  

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