The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Well he's not black, but Sam Bradford Stadium might work.  I always liked that guy, too.

Not sure that would fly

Was ol Sam down for the struggle

white folks might be offended

That doesnt seem to matter anymore

when a school honors someone by naming a stadium after them it should be because the majority wants that not because that school is under duress

perhaps it would be as easy as not putting names of any sort on buildings and other things

especially corporate names

its sad if it has come to that and Im talking about college not the corporate world

If the Redskins want to change their name no problem cause it boils down to money which is why they exist

course now any team with an ethnic name will have to defend itself

wouldn't it just be easier to call the OU sports teams, "Land Thieves"?

then all the geologists would be offended

My wife is one that can quote the kings of England categorical. She recognizes actors in a movie, and can tell you just about everything else they were in.

When a song is being played, I'm your man. In particular, I'm fascinated and driven to research the foundations of American music. The blues and jazz have always driven me to investigate origins, roots, differences, and commonalities. I'm dogged about it.

The racist origins of "The Levee Song" and (the totally unrelated) "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah" are practically zero. "The Levee Song" is a standard worksong, sung by manual laborers. There were, of course, Blacks among these laborers. The laborers as a group were certainly not treated with any humanity or care regardless if they were building a levee or a railroad bed (they look almost the same). "Dinah" was composed in England, likely in the 1830s or so, as likely another "I came home drunk to another man with my wife" song. England was fond of those at the time. The two were likely crammed together at some point during a minstrel skit.

Minstrelsy embodied just about every offensive stereotype from the slave and post-slave world. At a time when white musicians were having their ears opened to the universe of Black music, minstrel shows were essentially the TV entertainment of the time. Black performers would play alongside white performers for the entertainment of white audiences. This was acceptable because the Black performers were rendered "harmless" by debasing themselves with black(er) face along with the white performers - depending on the skit.

It's tough to find an emergent tune between 1840 and 1890 that wasn't performed in minstrel shows. That's simply how music was heard, and how musicians, especially those forming the new connections to Black sounds that would eventually become jazz (and later blues - it took longer for Africans to let white people in on that).

Throughout these shows, lyrics and performances almost certainly incorporated elements insulting to Blacks.

Obviously, this is a long boring ramble that only music ethnologists like me care about. In practical terms, there's no reason for me to preach this lesson. The point is to make current or prospective Black students at the University of Texas feel like they are valued, belong, and are wanted. If this priority is compromised by a song, then we've got to clear that up. I value their inclusivity and participation at Texas more than I value a (very traditional and recognizable) song.

where does it stop

when is enough enough

There has never been any indication in the past that Black students were not valued or did not belong

this is about more then just a song

its about completely undoing tradition and history

So you're personally speaking for the combined opinion of the Black community? Are you speaking as a Black man?

My suspicion is that you're speaking as a white guy who's not personally affected by the issue, so therefore there can't possibly BE an issue.

I can't tell you the exact line where it stops, but my desire to include Black voices and experiences in the education of Texas' brightest students comes before a song. If that's keeping those voices from attending Texas and sending them to Duke and Stanford, then let's fix the song.

Im just happy that clearer heads prevailed


and the song stays