Last week the Texas Tribune published a story on the drama swirling around “The Eyes of Texas”. The song debuted at a minstrel show on May 12th, 1903, and was most likely performed by students in black face. Now it is sung by players and fans after football games in a longstanding Longhorns’ postgame tradition.
For many, especially Black student-athletes, the song is a symbol cloaked in racism. Students started a petition to have it removed. Some football players walked off the field when it was being performed. In response, alumni and donors emailed University of Texas-Austin President Jay Hartzell to let him know their feelings on the issue.
According to that Texas Tribune story, of the 300 emails received, 70% were in support of keeping the tradition alive. Some pressured the school by threatening to withhold donations from the school. At a big university like Texas, those donations are significant.
In the 2019-2020 school year, they generated $200.7 million in revenue of which $33.1 million came solely from donations to the football program. That year they netted a profit of $22.1 million, showing that Texas AD Chris Del Conte runs a good program.
The donations aren’t the problem. The strings attached to them that are being manipulated by racist donors is.
“Less than 6% of our current student body is black,” wrote Larry Wilkinson, a 1970 graduate and donor. “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’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. “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.”
And the racist vitriol wouldn’t be complete without a good old Bob McNair reference.
“You tell those ‘students’ who don’t want to play, they are out of the band and let the others play,” wrote Linden R. Welsch, class of 1969. “This is the same problem you have with the football team. You have let the inmates run the asylum. You let political correctness/ social justice or whatever take over and have lost control. It is stupid and demonstrates a total lack of leadership.”
Hartzell condemned the racist emails, saying they did not represent the Longhorn community.
“People who target our students with hateful views do not represent the values of the Longhorn community,” he said. “A few extremist views in the sample of emails the Texas Tribune reported on do not speak for the 540,000 proud Longhorn alumni who actively support our students and university. Out of the many emails I received this fall, a very small number included comments that were truly abhorrent and hateful. I categorically reject them, and they bear no influence on any aspect of our decision-making.”
Origins of “The Eyes of Texas”
In response to this issue, he organized a committee to study the origins of the song. Their report was released earlier this week and the findings left many unsatisfied.
According to the Texas Tribune, the 24-member committee concluded that the song was not directly connected to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, as some claimed. They also found that while the song was “not overtly racist”, it did originate in a minstrel show and “was most probably debuted in blackface.” The Tribune also noted that “UT-Austin student organizations continued to sing ‘The Eyes’ at the end of minstrel shows performed with blackface, which were discontinued in 1965, according to the report.”
So the song definitely has racist roots, ones further unearthed by the responses Hartzell received.
But the fight against the song is about much more than lyrics.
The fight is against systemic racism. It has permeated an institution that, up to 1965, allowed students in black face to perform a song that supposedly demonstrated school pride.
The fight confronts a system of power that has deep pockets and vast influence. It’s one that has exposed a network that has threatened the career path of Black student-athletes in Texas.
“These are some high-power people that come to see you play and they can keep you from getting a job in the state of Texas,” said linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. “It was shocking that they said that. To this day I still think back to the moment. They really used that as a threat to get us to try to do what they wanted us to do.”
It’s sad, yet unsurprising, that some unabashedly expose their racism in defense of a school song. But it’s also extremely revealing that these individuals are more protective of a song than they are offended about its black face origins. And that ingrained belief and behavior is what makes the student’s plight so challenging and emotionally draining.
While we don’t know whether the university will take action against the racist donors, we do know that “The Eyes of Texas” isn’t going anywhere. The president, the Board of Regents, and head football coach Steve Sarkisian have all confirmed this fact.
But Hartzell, and the committee, hope that understanding and change can emerge from this emotional situation.
“One of the unanimous agreements lies in our committee’s deep belief in the university and our continued hope for demonstrated progress on social issues that affect our country,” said the report. “The eyes of our university, our state and our country are watching our collective actions.”
Yes we are watching. And with more eyes than Texas.
