Morgantown, West Virginia – When the Texas Longhorns take the field today against the Baylor Bears, they will do so for the first time in over 100 years without the playing of their alma mater, “The Eyes of Texas”, which has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy in the past few weeks.
“The Eyes of Texas”, which has a history of being played at racist minstrel shows and is inspired by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, has been deemed as “too racist” by many members of the Texas Longhorns’ band and supporters of the program.
The Texas band director recently sent out a survey to the band’s members asking if they would be willing to play the song and the results showed that the song could not be played today. “Based on survey responses, we do not have the necessary instrumentation to participate in Saturday’s game”, director Scott Hanna said in a press release.
In addition to its questionable history, the song is set to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”, which parodied black railroad workers. So for now, the Texas Longhorns’ alma mater will not be played and may never be played again by the band on game days in Austin.
