Texas Head Football Coach Sarkisian Says Players Will ‘Proudly’ Sing ‘Eyes of Texas’

[RETIREDFAN1 5,700]

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2021/01/14/texas-head-football-coach-sarkisian-says-players-will-proudly-sing-eyes-texas/

[Hookemhorns88 440]

23 minutes ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2021/01/14/texas-head-football-coach-sarkisian-says-players-will-proudly-sing-eyes-texas/

As they should.  This was a good answer at his introductory press conference on Tuesday.

[AllGoodNamesRGone 1,425]

Exactly should actually take pride in their school. 

[DaveTV1 2,565]

I see nothing wrong with the lyrics, and there's only a commotion, because it was sung by black face singers that was very popular at that time i.e. Al Jolson considered the World's Greatest Entertainer at that time.  I've only seen one person in black face in my entire life and they were portraying Al Jolson.  

[Stoney 4,599]

If that’s how you wanna roll out the Sark Era more power to him. That’s a statement that’s pretty hard to walk back when the backlash comes. Hopefully he’s strong enough and healthy enough to face it.

[Hookemhorns88 440]

I wonder is he discussed this with his wife? I am sure that she would have an opinion.

[JustAFan11 875]

I would be very surprised if this wasn’t discussed at length in the interview process. Particularly with Mrs. Sark brig a black woman. I’m sure Sarkisian knows of the schools findings from the investigation into the history of the OV the song as well as the players past off seasons demands. 
 

It will come up again probably at the spring game if fans are there and for sure at the first game I’m September. If he can win the locker room and the players buy in to him and his ideas, it shouldn’t be an issue.
 

[AllGoodNamesRGone 1,425]

4 hours ago, DaveTV1 said:

I see nothing wrong with the lyrics, and there's only a commotion, because it was sung by black face singers that was very popular at that time i.e. Al Jolson considered the World's Greatest Entertainer at that time.  I've only seen one person in black face in my entire life and they were portraying Al Jolson.  

Absolutely nothing wrong . Just woke people trying to gripe about something because they are sad and pathetic.

[DB2point0 1,648]

From what I read the song had no racist undertones.  The song was sung to the tune of “I’ve been working in the railroad”.  The two numbsculls that wrote it however decided to debut it at a minstrel show where typically white people performed in blackface.  The historians that tell the story can’t even say for certain the quartet that sang it were in blackface. There’s lots of assumptions with this situation.  

[Hookemhorns88 440]

Jay Hartzel, UT president, commissioned a task force to investigate and advise on the song. The results are supposed to be in this month. Maybe Sark has an advanced copy of the report?

[Stoney 4,599]

1 hour ago, DB2point0 said:

From what I read the song had no racist undertones.  The song was sung to the tune of “I’ve been working in the railroad”.  The two numbsculls that wrote it however decided to debut it at a minstrel show where typically white people performed in blackface.  The historians that tell the story can’t even say for certain the quartet that sang it were in blackface. There’s lots of assumptions with this situation.  

Folks need to chill out with the cancel culture mess. You can’t place today’s morals (or lack there of) or values(or lack there of) on the past. Even some Christmas songs stole their tunes from beer drinking songs. A songs a song. It has as much power over you as you allow it.

[AllGoodNamesRGone 1,425]

35 minutes ago, Hookemhorns88 said:

Jay Hartzel, UT president, commissioned a task force to investigate and advise on the song. The results are supposed to be in this month. Maybe Sark has an advanced copy of the report?

Lol for real my goodness. 

[AllGoodNamesRGone 1,425]

1 hour ago, DB2point0 said:

From what I read the song had no racist undertones.  The song was sung to the tune of “I’ve been working in the railroad”.  The two numbsculls that wrote it however decided to debut it at a minstrel show where typically white people performed in blackface.  The historians that tell the story can’t even say for certain the quartet that sang it were in blackface. There’s lots of assumptions with this situation.  

Agree absolutely nothing . I heard some confederates or southern folks in the 20 century may have used a similar battle cry. I mean come on every one knows the intention.

[DB2point0 1,648]

4 minutes ago, AllGoodNamesRGone said:

Agree absolutely nothing . I heard some confederates or southern folks in the 20 century may have used a similar battle cry. I mean come on every one knows the intention.

Lee said the eyes of the south were upon you.  The president of UT around 1900 made his own saying of the eyes of Texas.....  that’s where the two guys got the idea of the song.  Even with hearing about the alleged racism of the song doesn’t make me think it’s racist today.  

[DB2point0 1,648]

Cancel culture is wanting to erase the 5 seconds that donald trump is in home alone 2.  That’s how stupid our society is getting.  What’s next?  

[AllGoodNamesRGone 1,425]

9 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

Lee said the eyes of the south were upon you.  The president of UT around 1900 made his own saying of the eyes of Texas.....  that’s where the two guys got the idea of the song.  Even with hearing about the alleged racism of the song doesn’t make me think it’s racist today.  

Reaching to the extreme. There isn’t a person in this country that thought about Racism when they heard that tune. Ridiculous 

[Baron 236]

32 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

Lee said the eyes of the south were upon you.  The president of UT around 1900 made his own saying of the eyes of Texas.....  that’s where the two guys got the idea of the song.  Even with hearing about the alleged racism of the song doesn’t make me think it’s racist today.  

Apparently this is where most of the animus regarding TEOT is coming from along with the blackface performers in 1905(?)

When Lee said "The eyes of the South are upon you" he simply meant for graduates to go forth and act honorably in life.

I have also heard that a professor connected with the band is the one who created this nonsense last summer and has pushed his agenda on the athletes and the band itself.

[Hookemhorns88 440]

1 hour ago, Baron said:

Apparently this is where most of the animus regarding TEOT is coming from along with the blackface performers in 1905(?)

When Lee said "The eyes of the South are upon you" he simply meant for graduates to go forth and act honorably in life.

I have also heard that a professor connected with the band is the one who created this nonsense last summer and has pushed his agenda on the athletes and the band itself.

My understanding is that the story of the "Eyes" has been wide known to the minority students for a number of years and is not something new.  Not to rehash a lot that has been previously written but I was a student there from '84-'88 and I have never heard of this before until this year.  My daughter went to Texas from '10-'14 and she was unaware of it too.  Additionally, when she went through orientation on campus she had to take a couple of social and cultural sensitivity seminars.  None of them broached this subject about the "Eyes".

I do not believe that it is anyone associated with the band that is causing the ruckus now.  It was some liberal arts professor from a few years ago that started it all.  The issue with the band this year was that the drum major and a few others refused to play it.  All of this was hidden early in the year for their lack of performance at games as a response to being safe from Covid.  They were doing a "study" to see how the virus could be spread through the instruments being played.

[Baron 236]

2 hours ago, Hookemhorns88 said:

My understanding is that the story of the "Eyes" has been wide known to the minority students for a number of years and is not something new.  Not to rehash a lot that has been previously written but I was a student there from '84-'88 and I have never heard of this before until this year.  My daughter went to Texas from '10-'14 and she was unaware of it too.  Additionally, when she went through orientation on campus she had to take a couple of social and cultural sensitivity seminars.  None of them broached this subject about the "Eyes".

I do not believe that it is anyone associated with the band that is causing the ruckus now.  It was some liberal arts professor from a few years ago that started it all.  The issue with the band this year was that the drum major and a few others refused to play it.  All of this was hidden early in the year for their lack of performance at games as a response to being safe from Covid.  They were doing a "study" to see how the virus could be spread through the instruments being played.

You're right. Created was incorrect. Reintroduced would have been more accurate.

[MavGrad99 5,121]

Here is the correct way to answer the "Eyes of Texas" question:

"If my players want to proudly sing it they can do so, the rest of my team will respect that decision and stand with them in a way the university deems appropriate."

[DB2point0 1,648]

7 hours ago, MavGrad99 said:

Here is the correct way to answer the "Eyes of Texas" question:

"If my players want to proudly sing it they can do so, the rest of my team will respect that decision and stand with them in a way the university deems appropriate."

I don’t see any reason to not sing it.  It’s not a racist song

[cotton84 369]

9 hours ago, DB2point0 said:

I don’t see any reason to not sing it.  It’s not a racist song

Some players may be like me in regards to singing - sound terrible.  They may not want to be picked up by a microphone and heard on ESPN or whatever.  

[DB2point0 1,648]

2 hours ago, cotton84 said:

Some players may be like me in regards to singing - sound terrible.  They may not want to be picked up by a microphone and heard on ESPN or whatever.  

That’s fine.  Stand there with your teammates, horns held high, and enjoy the moment.  
 

 

[ETXfan16 888]

I think Mattheew McConaughey said it best. 

 

“My first gut is this — my gut instinct on “The Eyes of Texas” at present. And it has been since this issue came up. And this is a play on the word eyes of Texas but I thought about it. Look, in the form of rehabilitation, which is what we’re all trying to figure out here, right? If somebody’s... if my eyes don’t see, if I’m having trouble seeing, you don’t gouge my eyes. You get me glasses. ... I’m saying well let’s not get rid of the eyes, let’s change the way the eyes see. The University of Texas hijacked that song from what its roots were. It has no present meaning or intention of what it did in its origin. Alright? So, while I understand and respect it’s disgraceful because of its origin, I’m like, we’ve rehabilitated that song. We hijacked it. We stole it. It’s like the U2 song that talks about Charles Manson stole that Beatles tune, “Helter Skelter.” Hey, we’re stealing it back. We got it. That’s not what we’re standing for. This is what we mean by it. And it does mean a halo of excellence above us. To go, hey, let’s have something that we have an expectation for who we are as Longhorns here. That’s how I see it. I say don’t change the eyes, just change the way the eyes see. Let’s embrace the change of what the song means and what we’ve turned it into.

[Hookemhorns88 440]

3 minutes ago, ETXfan16 said:

I think Mattheew McConaughey said it best. 

 

“My first gut is this — my gut instinct on “The Eyes of Texas” at present. And it has been since this issue came up. And this is a play on the word eyes of Texas but I thought about it. Look, in the form of rehabilitation, which is what we’re all trying to figure out here, right? If somebody’s... if my eyes don’t see, if I’m having trouble seeing, you don’t gouge my eyes. You get me glasses. ... I’m saying well let’s not get rid of the eyes, let’s change the way the eyes see. The University of Texas hijacked that song from what its roots were. It has no present meaning or intention of what it did in its origin. Alright? So, while I understand and respect it’s disgraceful because of its origin, I’m like, we’ve rehabilitated that song. We hijacked it. We stole it. It’s like the U2 song that talks about Charles Manson stole that Beatles tune, “Helter Skelter.” Hey, we’re stealing it back. We got it. That’s not what we’re standing for. This is what we mean by it. And it does mean a halo of excellence above us. To go, hey, let’s have something that we have an expectation for who we are as Longhorns here. That’s how I see it. I say don’t change the eyes, just change the way the eyes see. Let’s embrace the change of what the song means and what we’ve turned it into.

For those believe that it is or was a racist song, the reason to sing it now, in present times, couldn't be more eloquently spoken.  I read this when it came out a few months ago and wholeheartedly agree.  Hopefully with him being the Minister of Culture, and of the Hollywood crowd, this will carry some weight.