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The University of Texas is facing some heavy backlash after hiring its first Black director of the Longhorn marching band. While the hiring itself seems relatively good, the University of Texas stated that the band will be required to play “The Eyes of Texas” a month before hiring the new director.

The song was often found in early 1900 minstrel shows with white musicians in Black face. Despite its history, the university reported that the song had “no racist intent” in March.

Cliff Croomes, who is currently an assistant director of bands at Louisiana State University, is set to become the 15th director of the Longhorn Band on June 1st, UT announced Wednesday.

Croomes will take the place of Scott Hanna, who had been the band director since 2015.

After a group of student-athletes called for the song to be dropped during the death of George Floyd and the protests that ensued, university President Jay Hartzell, along with UT’s Board of Regents refused to drop the song.

The school of music announced that even though the marching band and prep band are required to play the song, a separate band will be made for those who don’t want to perform the song.

The announcement that the song will be required and the report that failed to find the racist origins of the song angered some Black state lawmakers, the NAACP Texas chapter, and other minority activists.

If Croomes had any opinions on the song, he hasn’t revealed them yet.

“I am thrilled to return to my Longhorn roots at the University of Texas at Austin,” Croomes said in a statement released by UT. “I have a long history with the Longhorn Band, and it’s a dream come true to lead this band”

It’s surprising to me that Croomes is the first Black person in the band’s 121 years of existence. While I don’t want to take away from Croomes’s hard work and talent that got him the position, I have to wonder if him being hired was to try to appease those fighting against the song. A simple Google search tells you all you need to know about the origins of the song, so what was the reason for UT to lie other than to preserve its racist past and slap a person of color on the cover of the band to showcase how not racist the university is?