UT to require Longhorn Band to play the ‘Eyes of Texas’ but will create new band for those who oppose song

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Plausible Deniability said:
While this could be true, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that we could say this about just about every single facet of life in America today, if you really want to look hard enough, and maybe even tilt your head and squint a little bit. One big Rorschach test when you really get down to it
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It likely could be. And today more and more people are voicing concerns about them. I for one and not a huge fan of spending money with faces of people who would've enslaved me, sending my kids to schools named after people who thought my forbearers inferior to them, and so on and so forth. I'm sure I wouldn't be pleased with my school celebrating a song originally performed during a minstrel show either. The real problem is that many people in America are more attached to their own nostalgia than they are to upholding the values that this country is supposedly about.
 

Free, white, and 21. Is that phrase still used? It was when I was a man of 21, not all that long ago. Is the phrase racist? No. Does it imply superiority? Yes. So it is racism even though the words (like the song) aren't overtly racist. Subtle racism is the most insidious IMHO.
 

MplsGopher said:
Strange.

It's like the country was founded on principles of personal profit above all else, including forcing people into slavery to build that profit under "laws" allowing you to murder them if they didn't comply, because their skin color was dark.
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B.S.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
well, technically slavery was a tradition. It lasted from 246-400 years depending on your definition and who you ask in the US.

so how many slaves do you own if tradition is that important to you?
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So ridiculous...
 

oleboy41 said:
I believe that many want to fix it by finding a new song
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I know there's a chance I'll regret this but I have to ask... fix what exactly? I would have to imagine that approximately 325,000,000 people in the United States couldn't tell you right now not just what any of the words to the song are, but much less likely what its origin is?
 



Plausible Deniability said:
I know there's a chance I'll regret this but I have to ask... fix what exactly? I would have to imagine that approximately 325,000,000 people in the United States couldn't tell you right now not just what any of the words to the song are, but much less likely what its origin is?
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So your argument is that black students of the school, who DO know the origin if the song, and who know its history has mocked them and denied their humanity should just be ok with it because other people don’t know? You should regret that...
 

oleboy41 said:
So your argument is that black students of the school, who DO know the origin if the song, and who know its history has mocked them and denied their humanity should just be ok with it because other people don’t know? You should regret that...
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Actually not really sure if you're serious here but who knows... so your contention is that the thoughts of people 150-200 years ago are resulting in students being "mocked and denied their humanity" today? Good Lord, we have songs today that say f'k the police and kill the pigs and we're not batting an eyelash but changing a school fight song from the 1800's is going to improve the lives of thousands. It's a highly successful part of a plan to continually increase divisiveness across our country and we have people that just keep buying into it. There is an active and aggressive effort to continually divide us because that's what keeps those folks in power but we keep ignoring it for whatever reason.

Not really interested in derailing this thread any further. We have different opinions on the significance today of the Texas Longhorn school song. I'm okay with having different opinions. I appreciate your thoughts though.

I think we can at least agree on GO GOPHERS!!!!
 

Plausible Deniability said:
Actually not really sure if you're serious here but who knows... so your contention is that the thoughts of people 150-200 years ago are resulting in students being "mocked and denied their humanity" today? Good Lord, we have songs today that say f'k the police and kill the pigs and we're not batting an eyelash but changing a school fight song from the 1800's is going to improve the lives of thousands. It's a highly successful part of a plan to continually increase divisiveness across our country and we have people that just keep buying into it. There is an active and aggressive effort to continually divide us because that's what keeps those folks in power but we keep ignoring it for whatever reason.

Not really interested in derailing this thread any further. We have different opinions on the significance today of the Texas Longhorn school song. I'm okay with having different opinions. I appreciate your thoughts though.

I think we can at least agree on GO GOPHERS!!!!
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To be fair, I don’t think any college’s fight song is NWA’s F*ck the police.
 




I was not familiar with the song so looked it up. What a creepy ass song!
To the tune of I've Been Working on the Railroad:

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 Gabrial blows his horn.

That's your alma mater? Yikes! Nevermind racist, that's just downright pyscho...
 

Plausible Deniability said:
Actually not really sure if you're serious here but who knows... so your contention is that the thoughts of people 150-200 years ago are resulting in students being "mocked and denied their humanity" today? Good Lord, we have songs today that say f'k the police and kill the pigs and we're not batting an eyelash but changing a school fight song from the 1800's is going to improve the lives of thousands. It's a highly successful part of a plan to continually increase divisiveness across our country and we have people that just keep buying into it. There is an active and aggressive effort to continually divide us because that's what keeps those folks in power but we keep ignoring it for whatever reason.

Not really interested in derailing this thread any further. We have different opinions on the significance today of the Texas Longhorn school song. I'm okay with having different opinions. I appreciate your thoughts though.

I think we can at least agree on GO GOPHERS!!!!
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Are you a white male? Im a black man. I know exactly what it feels like to be told to honor and respect something that has no respect for me. I know what its like to go through life being told certain people are our nations heros knowing that those same people viewed my ancestors as inferior. I know the struggle of trying to ‘have pride’ in things that make you feel less than because of their very existence. So yes, im sure that for the black students at that school, changing a song that was originated at a minstrel show, something specifically designed to both mock black culture and imitate it (and in the early 1900’s, not the 150-200 years ago you claim which clearly lets me know you’re spouting off opinions on this without actually doing any research at all which is.... typical), would go a long way in making them feel like their humanity is being respected. This country no longer tolerates remnants of Asian stereotypes or Indigenous stereotypes but black people are constantly expected to simply ‘deal with it’. So yea, you’re wrong. And worse, you’re spouting buzzwords like ‘divisiveness’ as if black people wanting to be treated with respect is a problem.
 

oleboy41 said:
Are you a white male? Im a black man. I know exactly what it feels like to be told to honor and respect something that has no respect for me. I know what its like to go through life being told certain people are our nations heros knowing that those same people viewed my ancestors as inferior. I know the struggle of trying to ‘have pride’ in things that make you feel less than because of their very existence. So yes, im sure that for the black students at that school, changing a song that was originated at a minstrel show, something specifically designed to both mock black culture and imitate it (and in the early 1900’s, not the 150-200 years ago you claim which clearly lets me know you’re spouting off opinions on this without actually doing any research at all which is.... typical), would go a long way in making them feel like their humanity is being respected. This country no longer tolerates remnants of Asian stereotypes or Indigenous stereotypes but black people are constantly expected to simply ‘deal with it’. So yea, you’re wrong. And worse, you’re spouting buzzwords like ‘divisiveness’ as if black people wanting to be treated with respect is a problem.
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Oh? Blackface is still socially acceptable?
 



Nokomis said:
The Eyes of Texas are upon you
Til Gabrial blows his horn.

That's your alma mater? Yikes! Nevermind racist, that's just downright pyscho...
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So they even bring up the Rapture? I think that's what that means.
 

nitramnaed said:
So they even bring up the Rapture? I think that's what that means.
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Yeah...it sounds like a song a serial killer would make up as he locks you in his basement. I didn't look up the history beyond the lyrics, but who thought this was a good idea for an alma mater? To sing at graduations and stuff. And then continue singing it for the next 100 years or however long it's been.
 


oleboy41 said:
don't be stupid. Or worse, willfully argumentative and dense.
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How is that being dense? It seems to be the very point at issue. You're arguing that black people are forced to "deal with it" in comparison to depictions of Asian stereotypes and Indigenous stereotypes. How so? Blackface is completely socially unacceptable (rightfully so).
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
How is that being dense? It seems to be the very point at issue. You're arguing that black people are forced to "deal with it" in comparison to depictions of Asian stereotypes and Indigenous stereotypes. How so? Blackface is completely socially unacceptable (rightfully so).
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so you answered your own question. Why are you directing questions you know the answer to towards me?
 

oleboy41 said:
so you answered your own question. Why are you directing questions you know the answer to towards me?
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Because you think the opposite and that's what happens on message boards.
 

Some of my coworkers from India remarked on the portrayal of a guy from India in Big Bang Theory as demeaning. I think they are right. Sometimes it’s the stuff right in front of us that we need called out.
 

Plausible Deniability said:
I know there's a chance I'll regret this but I have to ask... fix what exactly? I would have to imagine that approximately 325,000,000 people in the United States couldn't tell you right now not just what any of the words to the song are, but much less likely what its origin is?
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Their are many things today that seem harmless, nostalgic or just traditional because we do not understand the original context in which they were created.

The song has its origins from the black faced minstrels (copies the tune of working on the railroad and was first performed in a minstrel). It also contains “The Eyes of ......” phrase that was generally attributed to General Lee.

abcnews.go.com

Longhorns Troubled by School Song's Past

Sung to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad," "The Eyes of Texas" epitomizes much of what it means to be a Longhorn at the University of Texas. The iconic alma mater was first performed at a minstrel show by students in blackface.
abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com

One would have to very naive to think that the racial biases of that time were not embedded into the song.

The tradition was only established because that is the song they chose to use not because of what it says. Just because you have been doing something stupid for a long time does mean you should keep doing it. And it is not canceling, it would be correcting something that was never acceptable.
 

alchemy2u said:
Their are many things today that seem harmless, nostalgic or just traditional because we do not understand the original context in which they were created.

The song has its origins from the black faced minstrels (copies the tune of working on the railroad and was first performed in a minstrel). It also contains “The Eyes of ......” phrase that was generally attributed to General Lee.

abcnews.go.com

Longhorns Troubled by School Song's Past

Sung to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad," "The Eyes of Texas" epitomizes much of what it means to be a Longhorn at the University of Texas. The iconic alma mater was first performed at a minstrel show by students in blackface.
abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com

One would have to very naive to think that the racial biases of that time were not embedded into the song.

The tradition was only established because that is the song they chose to use not because of what it says. Just because you have been doing something stupid for a long time does mean you should keep doing it. And it is not canceling, it would be correcting something that was never acceptable.
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Yep, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Either be docile and accepting of all B.S., or be considered a trouble maker. "Birth of a Nation" remix. Some of us just prefer to continue things. No matter how wrong they are.

The mystery is, how is this happening in Austin? The outsider perspective is there's Austin, then there is the rest of Texas. Even the strength of the perception of that culture can't overcome old rich guys.
 

STPGopher said:
Yep, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Either be docile and accepting of all B.S., or be considered a trouble maker. "Birth of a Nation" remix. Some of us just prefer to continue things. No matter how wrong they are.

The mystery is, how is this happening in Austin? The outsider perspective is there's Austin, then there is the rest of Texas. Even the strength of the perception of that culture can't overcome old rich guys.
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But the people of Austin do not run the university. It is the regents and officials that are installed by the money boosters and politicians.
 



FWIW we can make efforts towards erasing history/get rid of the song as a proxy war but it won’t ”fix” what has happened and is happening. MN could also get rid of the the anglicized ski-u-mah which besides being a nonsensical word is sourced from a time and place and people with a very troubling history...

The Lakota word oh-hee-yah “to win” makes more sense, if they don’t mind the cultural appropriation. Has anyone asked, by the way?
 

Pompous Elitist said:
FWIW we can make efforts towards erasing history/get rid of the song as a proxy war but it won’t ”fix” what has happened and is happening. MN could also get rid of the the anglicized ski-u-mah which besides being a nonsensical word is sourced from a time and place and people with a very troubling history...

The Lakota word oh-hee-yah “to win” makes more sense, if they don’t mind the cultural appropriation. Has anyone asked, by the way?
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From wikipedia:
Dakota–Lakota specialists state that the word "Ski-U" or "Ski-yoo" or "Ski-oo" is not Dakota victory cry nor or the Dakota word for winning. What Adams heard on Lake Pepin, "ski-oo," may have just been an interjection, similar to "woo hoo."

Looks like we don't need to ask. How cool is that?
 

Word said:
From wikipedia:
Dakota–Lakota specialists state that the word "Ski-U" or "Ski-yoo" or "Ski-oo" is not Dakota victory cry nor or the Dakota word for winning. What Adams heard on Lake Pepin, "ski-oo," may have just been an interjection, similar to "woo hoo."

Looks like we don't need to ask. How cool is that?
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Do we worry this is a culturally appropriated (non) word, appropriated from a group that was not treated very nicely by Minnesotans? This is in relation to the OP and the debate over the UT song.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Do we worry this is a culturally appropriated (non) word, appropriated from a group that was not treated very nicely by Minnesotans? This is in relation to the OP and the debate over the UT song.
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It's not a real word in any language. Not worried.
 


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