University of Texas at Austin students sue school because it refuses to cancel its 'racist' spirit song 'The Eyes of Texas'
A group of University of Texas at Austin students are suing the school for creating a 'hostile environment' by forcing members of its marching band to play in a separate group because they refuse to play the school's spirit song, 'The Eyes of Texas', at football games. 'The Eyes of Texas' was first sung in 1903 at a student-organized minstrel show, a popular form of entertainment in the early 20th century that featured white performers in blackface, in downtown Austin. It's been a source of campus-wide debate for more than a year after a summer of Black Lives Matter protests amid the killing of George Floyd - but the university stood by the song in a recent report affirming that it had 'no racist intent' and that it 'remains our alma mater.' The lawsuit, filed Friday with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of an anonymous group of students and the Texas chapter of the NAACP, claims the university failed