{"id":730780,"date":"2021-09-08T14:50:57","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T18:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=730780"},"modified":"2021-09-08T14:51:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T18:51:00","slug":"texas-naacp-and-ut-students-file-federal-civil-rights-complaint-over-racist-school-song-eyes-of-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-naacp-and-ut-students-file-federal-civil-rights-complaint-over-racist-school-song-eyes-of-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas NAACP And UT Students File Federal Civil Rights Complaint Over \u2018Racist\u2019 School Song \u2018Eyes Of Texas\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftexas-naacp-and-ut-students-file-federal-civil-rights-complaint-over-racist-school-song-eyes-of-texas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=730780&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1235107265.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>The \u201cEyes of Texas\u201d is under fire once again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s the school song of the University of Texas at Austin, performed by the marching band at university athletic events. The song gained national attention shortly after the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, as many pointed out that the origin of the song is racially insensitive. A group of UT-Austin football players asked that the school remove the tune as the school\u2019s song in order to make the university \u201cmore comfortable and inclusive for the Black athletes and the Black community that has so fervently supported this program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Pushback against the song caused the university to look into the origins of the tune, and according to a March 2021 report by UT-Austin, the song was first played at a student-organized minstrel show in 1903 and more than likely performed in blackface. However, the report stated that the song \u201chad no racist intent.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Following the report, in April 2021, the UT-Austin Butler School of Music announced that the Longhorn Band <\/span><span>would continue to perform the song and that band members would be required to participate.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe need to celebrate and nurture what makes UT special, and the Longhorn Band is one of those great organizations that shape our campus culture, elevate school spirit and provide amazing opportunities for our students,\u201d UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2021\/04\/21\/eyes-of-texas-song-ut-austin-band\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in the release. \u201cOur multi-million-dollar commitment over the next five years will support the Longhorn Band in restoring \u2014 and even going beyond \u2014 its former glory, while also providing strong support for our entire portfolio of university bands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>UT-Austin also announced the creation of a separate band in which the band members would not be required to perform the \u201cEyes of Texas.\u201d That band is scheduled to form in the fall of 2022.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Now, as the 2021 college football season is underway, those that oppose playing the song are renewing their efforts to have it banned.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Friday, the Texas chapter of the NAACP along with a handful of anonymous students filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s Office of Civil Rights. In the complaint, UT-Austin is accused of \u201ccreating a hostile environment for Black students by continuing to play the \u2018The Eyes of Texas\u2019 alma mater song at university events,\u201d per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2021\/09\/07\/naacp-ut-austin-eyes-of-texas\/\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span><span>(UT\u2019s actions)<\/span><span> are a violation of the university\u2019s obligation under the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and clearly in violation of the university\u2019s responsibility to provide a violence- and intimidation-free environment for our young students so they can pursue their education the same as others,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaaf\/big12\/2021\/09\/08\/texas-naacp-the-eyes-texas-creates-hostile-environment-ut\/5768659001\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The complaint alleges that the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to \u201crespond to racial harassment against Black students and others who oppose the song.\u201d The complaint also states that the creation of a \u201cseparate marching band for students who do not want to play \u2018The Eyes of Texas\u2019 violates equal protections afforded under the Fourteenth Amendment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Longhorn Band <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=r4H0Q6q2k9Q\">performed<\/a>&nbsp;the \u201cEyes of Texas\u201d this past weekend in the home opener for Texas football against Louisiana. In January, newly hired head football coach Steve Sarkisian <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sports\/2021\/01\/13\/steve-sarkisian-the-eyes-of-texas\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>, \u201c<\/span><span>I know this much, \u2018The Eyes of Texas\u2019 is our school song. We\u2019re going to sing that song. We\u2019re going to sing that proudly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhenever there\u2019s an event where it\u2019s played, I feel uncomfortable, because it\u2019s almost like a song of white supremacy, and it just holds all those negative connotations of the 1900s and of most minstrel shows,\u201d Al-Nassar Lawal, president of the UT-Austin chapter of the NAACP <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2021\/09\/07\/naacp-ut-austin-eyes-of-texas\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in an interview. \u201cThat\u2019s the imagery that comes to my mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cEyes of Texas\u201d is under fire once again.It\u2019s the school song of the University of Texas at Austin, performed by the marching band at university athletic events. The song &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-730780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}