I hate Florida Gators but I have no problem with their Gator Bait chant. This is nuts:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...acial-imagery/
I hate Florida Gators but I have no problem with their Gator Bait chant. This is nuts:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...acial-imagery/
Rdirtypirates (06-18-2020)
I had no idea the awful origins of that term. During slavery and shockingly into the 20th century, black babies were kidnapped and literally used as alligator bait to lure gators out of the water so they could be killed and skinned. Gator bait was used as a racial slur at least through the 1950s.Originally Posted by Sea Ray
Maybe there were no ill-intentions when they created the chant, but seems to me they can come up with a new damn cheer.
https://theundefeated.com/features/t...nd-alligators/
"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman
https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/ji...n/2013/may.htm
When all is said and done more is said than done.
Since pretty much none of us knew any of that until now, what was the harm? Did the KKK come out this week and explain these origins or something? I think Gator fans had only good intentions in using it
To be honest, never having been to Gainesville, I didn't even know there were words (chant) to the chopping motion they do with their arms. My opinion is..."whatever."
I agree with this line from a Gator fan:
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/fl...n-perspective/I’m not saying that this is the right move. I’m saying that I’m willing to accept it even if it’s not. There are frankly bigger things to get emotional about. And Florida football will survive.
The bigger problem here is not the chant itself, it's that right now anything that is even remotely related to racism is on the chopping block no questions asked and some of these things aren't even linked to racism. This chant clearly has no racial intentions. I'll refrain from going any further on this topic because this is not the political thread but I felt I should state something as a life long Gator fan. It's a free for all right now on any and everything. Racism is a terrible thing of our past and present but I fear a lot of things are going to unjustifiably fall victim to the current movement.
Again I apologize if I'm stepping out of bounds discussing this but felt the need to express my opinion on the subject. I wish racism would disappear from our society though I fear it never will and I feel like a lot of what is happening right now is more appeasement than addressing the real problems.
Assembly Hall (06-22-2020),jimbo (06-21-2020),Rdirtypirates (06-20-2020)
I'm glad you chimed in. I was wondering how Gator fans felt about it. So far as I can see, this isn't politics. This doesn't involve government or any politician. This is a school policy. One has to wonder, how long till the Seminole war chant gets axed?
I agree with you that some of the recent changes are part theater and we need to address the roots of racism in a real way (inequalities in education, housing, job access, and mass incarceration). I think it's necessary though to start chipping away at some of the racist symbolism that is baked in and normalized in our society. It's a start.
I understand the vast majority of UF had no idea the origins of the term when they do that chant. But we know them now. In an extreme analogy, if the n-word suddenly disappeared from the vocabulary somehow, resurfaced 50 years from now in a sports chant, and then we learned more about that word, I'd want that chant stopped. It's certainly a small gesture and a small acknowledgment of an abhorrent practice years ago, but I'm not sure how it diminishes one's enjoyment of college football to say "Let's go Gators" instead.
"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman
*BaseClogger* (06-19-2020)
It should not be under any major threat unless leaders of the Seminoles actually spoke out against it....and I think they have solid support from at least most of the Seminoles.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
before yesterday, almost nobody on the planet linked "Gator Bait" to anything related to racism....especially not the African American players. Basically every white and black player for UF has made the claim "if you are not a Gator, then you are Gator Bait" (or something similar). Sooo, the Administration and Academics @ UF decided they must cease an act that unites 80k people of all races and ethnic groups on Fall Saturdays in Gainesville....and literally 100's of thousands of alumni and fans across the globe.....and literally offended no one that I am aware of.....for what? How is that decision beneficial to anyone? How is that decision viewed as anything but a net negative? The administration pretty much took something that is good and uniting....and turned it into something that is bad and divisive. I am confident their attention and efforts towards racial equality could have been much more effective in other areas on campus.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
I don't know how to discuss this without it belonging on the other board, but I actually generally agree with you guys.
The problem is I don't think any of you support the types of policy changes Reds Freak described in a previous post, so you get stuck absorbing these half-measures because it's the low-hanging fruit people in power can point towards to show they "did something"...
Yeah it’s a little tough to read that article and still think about it the same way. That was written a few years ago too.
When it comes to light, you have to change it. In reality "gator bait" as we know it today has no racial undertones, but with such a sordid past, it has to be changed.
Kinda reminds me of this, as a kid I was taught to sit Indian style, but now it has been changed to "criss-cross applesauce." While there was nothing inherently mean spirited about what we were taught, its current iteration is much better.
I get the "indian style" because that is a caricature of a culture that could be offensive to Americans today....but much of the things getting focus no longer even are attached to their original meaning. I do not want to go too far down the rabbit hole, but most of what was named after things or people before the mid 20th century, we can find related negatives based on what is acceptable today.....but many of those things do not represent that historical meaning. For example, Yale University is named after it's founder Elihu Yale....a very successful and infamous slave trader....but nobody thinks of Elihu Yale today when they think of Yale University, and it would be far more detrimental to change the name of the University than to acknowledge it is not offensive in 2020 because it no longer represents what it did in 1701. I am not about supporting offending anyone, but we need to be reasonable....and more importantly honest.
Maybe because it is I reside in the land of alligators, but I hear "gator bait" routinely in jokes and comments from white, black and brown Floridians....and it is never said as a reference or with any racial intentions.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
Soon, the only human-like mascots, figureheads, etc... will be white people.
There will be outrage about that too. Probably from the next generation.
Then what?
"Lemonade requires a significant amount of sugar. Otherwise, you've just made lemon juice."
Assembly Hall (06-22-2020)
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