Is the Song "Eyes of Texas" Racist?

 A lot of folks think it is and would like to see the school drop it.

Honestly, I think calling "Eyes of Texas" racist is debatable. 

I did some research on the song. 

The title is based upon a saying of Robert E. Lee. When Lee was the university president of Washington College in Virginia (now called Washington and Lee University) he would frequently remind students that “the eyes of the South are upon you.” One can interpret that lots of ways, some positive and some negative, but it was probably meant to encourage students to make people proud of them. Again, one can interpret that lots of ways. 

William Prather was a student at Washington College and when he became president of UT he made a speech to the student body and said “I would like to paraphrase [Lee’s] utterance, and say to you, ‘Forward, young men and women of the University, the eyes of Texas are upon you!'" Once again, one can interpret that lots of ways. 

The song was written by two students about six years after Prather's speech and was debuted at the annual campus minstrel show on May 12, 1903 since there would be a large audience, including President Prather. 

So the song has at least two potential strikes against it, minstrel shows and a tie to Robert E. Lee and through Lee to the Confederacy. A possible third strike is that some people interpret the lyrics as being tied to the "Lost Cause Mythology" but I don't see that. I think that's really a stretch. But obviously others disagree. 

The minstrel show thing is pretty bad but a lot of songs were sung in minstrel shows. The shows were racist but I'm not sure I would automatically categorize every song sung in one as racist. Still, minstrel shows are really, really bad. 

 Now let's talk about Lee. Lee did sign an Amnesty Oath as required by President Andrew Johnson and should have been pardoned. But apparently Secretary of State William H. Seward gave Lee's application to a friend as a souvenir and the State Department pigeonholed the oath. It was discovered in 1970. In 1975, Lee's full rights of citizenship were posthumously restored by a joint congressional resolution effective June 13, 1865. 

I think that it means someone when someone repents and is forgiven. I don't see why this should be ignored in Lee's case. However, we're talking about a leading general of the Confederacy who fought to defend the principle of slavery. That's a lot to forgive regardless of what Congress may have done. 

So, like I said, it's debatable. I can see why people would think it's time to retire this relic of an unpleasant past. I can also see why many people are attached to the tradition. 

How about letting the students and faculty vote on it?