1) Seems like a very bad recruiting strategy.

2) They should name names, out these donors and other people.

 
This line from one of the complainers.

Quote:

My wife and I have given an endowment in excess of $1 million to athletics.

I love college football but I can think of thousands of causes I would donate money to before I gave to a football program.

Here is a good recap of what the controversy is. https://www.texasmonthly.com/...f-texas-song-racist/

I'm not sure what to think. Pretty much anything coming out of Texas at that time is going to have racism in its background. It doesn't make the racism OK. But it doesn't seem like this song itself is being accused of being racist, just that it was introduced during a minstrel show and they may well have been wearing blackface when they did it.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

I don't know about this school, but based on what I know about another school, that sort of donation has all sorts of perks. If you are someone that goes to the games all the time and have that sort of money, it is kinda nice. You get tickets to all the bowl games or NCAA tournament games.

Also, they are probably not donating to Football specifically. Most likely their endowment is for a woman's sport. Since Football generates enough money, but because of title IX, the woman sports need similar funding, lots of the fundraising for them, but the perks are really sold on the Football (or basketball).

Also, I doubt that this is the only donation these people are making, they probably are giving money to other places.

The views of this donor don't read particularly well:

"Less than 6% of our current student body is black," wrote Larry Wilkinson, a donor who graduated in 1970, quoting a statistic UT-Austin officials have stated they’re working to improve. "The tail cannot be allowed to wag the dog….. and the dog must instead stand up for what is right. Nothing forces those students to attend UT Austin. Encourage them to select an alternate school ….NOW!"

It seems to be an admission that there may be something inherently racist about the song, but if the blacks don't like it, well, they should find a different school.

That wasn't even the worst one:

"It's time for you to put the foot down and make it perfectly clear that the heritage of Texas will not be lost," wrote another donor who graduated in 1986. Their name was also redacted by UT-Austin. "It is sad that it is offending the blacks. As I said before the blacks are free and it's time for them to move on to another state where everything is in their favor."

I didn't really think it was based in racism until I read the people defending it.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

I know, right? As if Texas doesn't already have issues as a program...

They are no longer even trying to tuck in the hood, they are just going full Klan in some of these messages.

The song isn't racist. The lyrics aren't racist. There's no racist irony or innuendo built into it either. Millions of people of many nationalities, races, cultures, and creeds have sung that song with love and pride.

Daron Roberts is quoted in your posted article saying of the athletes protesting the song "They’re asking for institutional changes that they think can have an impact on the racism that they see.”

I don't see how removing this song influences racism one iota in modern day Austin, Texas. Am I the only one who considers this to be an incredibly low value target?

P.S. Ironically, I went to Texas, but I've always found the song a bit irritating. The melody of Row row row your boat? Please. The lyrics of the song also don't quite match the high-minded exhortation of both Robert E. Lee and William Prather. In the song, the "eyes" come across as more of a big brother threat than a call to a standard of excellence for your community.

SH wrote:

The song isn't racist. The lyrics aren't racist. There's no racist irony or innuendo built into it either. Millions of people of many nationalities, races, cultures, and creeds have sung that song with love and pride.

Says you. But everyone doesn't see it the same way:

https://www.khou.com/...13-8c4b-9c88e0c9312f

Some of the current players don't and I wonder what the 16-18 year old black kids they are recruiting (and their parents) think? I have a feeling that some of them see it differently than you do.

I personally don't know the song, but there seems to be some discrepancy here. From the first linked article in the OP:

"The song — played to the tune of "I’ve been working on the railroad" — was historically performed at campus minstrel shows, and the title is linked to a saying from Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee."

Pretty sure the tune to "I've been working on the railroad" is not the same as "Row, row, row your boat," and the former has many racist roots.

Lol. I was just about to change it. Doesn't change my opinion of the tune.

Professor Gordon quoted in the article agrees with my assessment of the racism of the song. He never got into why he thinks removing it would reduce the racism that athletes see, so it's hard to comment on that aspect.

If the history of the song’s tune is racist, you can’t see why black students might be offended when it’s played and sung?

Btw.. the tune to "I've been working on the railroad" may well have been created by black laborers. So I guess it depends on what's getting used and not used here, right?

Additionally. A lot of black athletes feel the college set up is pretty racists. 1) blacks are majority athletes, 2) black athletes make up a decent number of blacks at school, 3) blacks are “performing” for white people (majority of college), 4) white people reap the most money from athletics (the college, admin, coaches, etc). 5) athletes don’t get paid in the traditional sense etc.

I can see black athletes not wanting a song or other performances that were associate with making fun of their ancestors. I can see how old white people don’t see an issue with it. (These are the same people who had HUGE issues about people kneeling). The people getting angry about removing the song are the same people who just want to exert their power over people. That’s the only reason they have a problem with removing the song. Anything else is just bad faith.

Maybe part of it (there are three quite separate parts). Here is a pretty thorough analysis of the history of the song and it's various verses, some of which are clearly racist.

https://syncopatedtimes.com/...p-blowing-your-horn/


Undisputed is the fact that both the original song "I've been working on the railroad" and the Texas version were both used in Minstrel performances. Some might argue that that, alone, is enough to render it inappropriate for modern use in a large institution.

Good read regarding the history of the songs. I tend to agree with the author's conclusions. Did you read them?

I agree with you on the athletes getting paid. I don't think it's racist because the long standing policy predates the racial evolution of the average high value athlete. However, it is a bogus policy that now negatively affects primarily black athletes. The NCAA and these schools need to recognize they are in business, and they need to stop colluding with each other and the federal/state governments to short change these athletes. I could easily see changes here materially affecting life for the football and basketball players at the center of this controversy. But you know what they say: Songs first! Money after, maybe.

The song part I disagree with. This song wasn't used to make fun of black people. That's the facts. Yes, you can get into some kind of "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" exercise were you find "origins associated with racism". But for that matter then, you might as well outlaw songs sung in English because that language is definitely associated with racism, and was definitely used to make fun of black people. At some point the logic of "association" gets ridiculous. And, honestly, I think I'm just pointing to reasonable limits to keep it from getting stupid.

The Eyes of Texas has been sung in good faith for 40+ years. There's no racist lyrics. There's no racist irony. There's no racist innuendo. The professors in these linked articles all agree with that. These Texas kids and even these older Texas codgers wouldn't know squat about the entire situation if it weren't for historians going and looking for "associations". It was, literally, a search for something to be offended about.

Like I said earlier. I never cared much for the song. So I don't care about holding on to it. My point is that I just don't see the harm the song was doing, and therefore I don't see the gain that will come from forcing its change. YMMV.

Other accounts of the song and interpretation of the verses are less forgiving, particularly about what “Dinah in the kitchen” represented.

Indeed, some argue the song has no place in our schools today (easy to search for and find such articles).

As to the topic here, it is important to consider also the Texas version of the song, and also how it was used in the past. Again, that both versions of the song were used in minstrel shows begs the question of appropriateness for a college song in the 21st century.

No dog in this fight. But when I read the lyrics I didn't understand the point of the controversy.


This article helped me understand that the origin of the phrase "The eyes of Texas" the was the primary issue and not the tune's origins in the on campus mistral shows.

Given that understanding, it is clearer to me why many have an issue with the song.

And that was before I read the racist alumni comments.

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Suffer Well.

I agree that the song itself isn’t racist, may have tangentially racist related origins, etc. the song by itself overall to not racist to me a white male who went to school in Austin.

I can see how black athletes today have an issue with songs tied to minstrels with southern origins. I can also see how players don’t care and tie the song to the school. I don’t see why you really require the players to be on the field and sing the school fight song.

I really can’t see how alumni in the donor class care too much, especially enough to actually pull their funding over the song ....

the only thing that makes sense is that old white people (some) don’t like being told what is allowable by black athletes. That’s the controversy. Members of the Donor class at UT Are racist.

What makes Americans of all races and creeds Americans is that we don't like anybody telling us what to do. Thems is just the facts. I understand the donors not wanting to change the song. I totally understand the athletes not wanting to sing a song they don't feel like singing. (Making the athletes sing the song under these conditions seems preposterous to me. I just don't see how that works in America, ever.)

But I can also understand alumni taking umbrage at the idea that they've been secretly participating in some racist charade for the past half century every time they've joyously and harmoniously sang their traditional UT spirit song.