"Gator Bait" has never once conjured up any racist imagery for me. I've always known that to be what the opposing team is..... nothing more. Such B/S.....
Apparently during the 19th Century, it was part of folklore that black slave children were used as bait to trap alligators. This was a popular song in 1899 The chorus: Hush-aby, don’t yo’ cry, mammy’s little piccaninny’s gwine to get a present mighty soon, When de stars am a-peepin’ and de moon it am a-creepin’ den yo’ mammy’s gwine to sing ‘dis tune, Shut yo’ eye bye and bye, mam will whip yo’ if yo’ cry, Someone am a-comin’ thro’ de gate; Go to sleep, don’t yo’ peep, listen to me tell yo’, yo’s mammy little alligator bait. *********************** blog article indicates that postcards and other display forms depicting black children as alligator bait continued up to the 1960s. alligator bait
Didn't sound like the white folk were offering up the gator bait.... Privileged? I always had a heart about things. In 7th grade we had the first black person ever in my public school in Jacksonville's rougher side of town.... white blue collar type crowd. She was very black and very outcast as the only black person in the school.... I always felt sorry for her. One day in gym we were learning to square dance so it was a coed day in the gym. The girls lined up on the other side and no one on my side would line up across from her.... and she was so hurt you could see it. So I sucked it up and went out and met her and danced with her.... knowing I was going to catch hell from all of the racist morons in school for the rest of the day. Must have been the liberal in me.
If you read the blog article I provided a link to, the folklore was that whites would use black slave children as bait to trap and catch alligators. Snopes has a lengthy discussion about the subject which seemingly concludes that the subject contained in the folklore has not been historically verified. But, it certainly seems well documented that the term gator bait had been used as a racial epithet from antebellum to the 1960s I had never heard of the term before Terry’s note. I am 65 and racial animosity was a constant feature of life growing up in SE Michigan. But, perhaps the snow belt’s barrier to alligator habitation led to different pejorative terms being used where I grew up. I think Terry’s comment re privilege was a tongue in cheek comment about the PC/cancel culture that consumes our nation.
Never heard of that racist lore and with good reason as most families wouldn't pass down that sort of folk lore you wouldn't think. And it probably wasn't prominent in my Florida History book either. But not one Gator fan chomping away in the Swamp has that particular vision in his eye as he is doing the Gator Chomp.
Based on your university president’s statement, he agrees with your last statement but concludes that since the term had a different racist meaning in the past, it cannot be used now. When I watch Fla games, I see black and white students and players enthusiastically doing the chop. That would seemingly suggest that the old definition has been been erased by the passage of time and that the modern use of the term has collectively defined as what You understand the term to mean. That being the case, why exhume the forgotten archaic definition to ban an act understood by those doing it now as solely a cheer to intimidate a rival sporting team.
It is ridiculous... but so is most of the other "racist cleansing" that is going on right now. If you stand up to point that out Dave... you will immediately be labeled a racist, and NOTHING you say or do will change that narrative. Sounds familiar...
George Washington Statue torn down in Portland last night. The City Council of NYC has sent a letter to the Mayor demanding that the statue of Thomas Jefferson be removed from City Hall.
Quite frankly I've never been a big Trump fan...but the Dems are all pandering to this social change stuff and I could never ever vote for them. We COULD do better as a society but this ain't the way. And also quite frankly, the Never-Trumper RINOs are have me ticked off as well. Trump is, well...Trump. And he has been defending himself against attacks like I have never seen before since the day he decided to run. He is his own worst enemy but as I see it he stands for a strong America, a strong economy, and keeping us out of useless wars.
Stu, that is a great point that is never talked about. Trump is very anti-war, and when viewing his actions through that lens, a lot of the decisions/diplomatic outreaches he makes start to make a bit of sense.
I see Trump as an "I have to win at all costs" kind of guy. Along his eccentric sometimes wacko narcissistic way America can benefit.... like the economy when not under a pandemic. But his ways themselves are caustic and hard to accept..... like this Tulsa rally tomorrow that might draw in 100,000 supporters in the middle of Oklahoma's worst spike of the Covid crisis. And then there's the GOP convention power move he put on N.C. to move it to Florida whose new case rate is spiking through the roof now that the state has almost fully reopened. ( at least in foolish practices it is ) In considering Trump the question that should be most asked is at what cost?
That they would go after Washington just sickens me. The guy spent 8 yrs. leading a poorly-funded, rag tag army. He wintered in awful encampments such as Valley Forge and Morristown. In the end, he'd outlasted the most powerful military power on earth. The grateful colonials wanted to make him king but he refused, affirming the ideals of the Revolution. From what I've read he never bought any slaves. What he owned were left to him with considerable land holdings. His will freed all of his slaves. (If you look at it from the economic point of view, large farming land in those days couldn't be farmed with modern machinery such as tractors, combines and such. The only way to profitably work the land was with cheap labor.) Founding a country leaping from an aristocracy to a democratic republic was a tremendous leap. Expecting them to have gone to a completely free society is probably asking too much. The attacks on our founding fathers is a demonstration of the complete failure of today's schools to teach about hour history and government. It's the main reason for the difference in views between generations.
Stu, identity politics by definition selects a single component of a person to define them, regardless of the sum measure of the rest of their lives. At this current juncture, the identity politics measuring stick leads to near-universal denouncement of anyone alive more than 50 years ago.
Well the State of Mississippi has the Confederate battle flag in the upper corner of it's state flag. So now the NCAA has said it can no longer hold NCAA Championship events in the state. Also the SEC has said it will also consider not allowing any SEC Championships in the state unless they change the Flag. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced the conference will consider not holding championship events in Mississippi, where Mississippi State and Ole Miss are located, unless the state changes its flag: "It is past time for change to be made to the flag of the State of Mississippi. Our students deserve an opportunity to learn and compete in environments that are inclusive and welcoming to all. "In the event there is no change, there will be consideration of precluding Southeastern Conference championship events from being conducted in the State of Mississippi until the flag is changed." "I have great respect for Commissioner Greg Sankey, and I understand why he has taken this position regarding Mississippi's state flag," Mississippi State President Mark Keenum said, per Danny P. Smith of the Starkville Daily News.
San Fran twitter user celebrating the destruction of US Grant’s statue. Guess the fact that Grant inherited a slave from his wife’s family that he then freed even though Grant was dead broke at the time is not important. Similarly, the fact that Grant led the army that ended slavery in this country and later, as president, rigorously enforced laws designed to protect and aid the emancipated are meaningless to this woke reptile.