{"product_id":"eyes-of-texas-blackface-to-whitewash-9798317371227","title":"Eyes of Texas: Blackface to Whitewash","description":"The beloved song has dark roots? Inspired by the Civil War, a university president told his all-White students: \"The eyes of Texas are upon you!\" By 1903, it was a campus joke and a song at a show mocking Black people. And recently, thousands of students rejected it. To them, it's a racist relic of the Jim Crow South, when Black Americans were wrongly jailed and forced to build railways, while overseers kept them from escaping. But to many alumni, the song is about devotion to Texas. What is its true history? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis book reveals how 'The Eyes of Texas' changed. It's a history of music, shaped by jokes, dignity, football, protests, and threats. It traces how a minstrel song about uneducated Black prisoners evolved into the anthem of Texas higher education. It explains how some alumni whitewashed the past, by creating imaginative histories of the song. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlberto Martinez\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of eight books, including \u003ci\u003eNegative Math (Princeton, 2005), Lost Origins of Einstein's Relativity (Johns Hopkins, 2009), Science Secrets\u003cbr\u003e(Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 2011) and Burned Alive (Reaktion \/ Univ. of Chicago Press, 2018). \u003c\/i\u003eHe also writes articles for \u003ci\u003eThe Hill\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAustin American-Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e newspapers, \u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHouston Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew Standard Press\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Texan\u003c\/i\u003e, and others. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eReviews of Martínez's past books: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\"Outstanding ... his scholarship is admirable. Every subject needs its history told in a careful and useful manner, and Martinez clearly succeeds in this endeavor.\" ⎼ \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\"at once scholarly and readable ... anyone with an interest in intellectual history would benefit.\" ⎼ \u003ci\u003eBooks \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Independently Published","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51890542182674,"sku":"9798317371227","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_df809070-30f3-47a0-8ffb-3f638faf2b1c.jpg?v=1768307045","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/eyes-of-texas-blackface-to-whitewash-9798317371227","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}