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Decision to rename the Texas Longhorns field a step in the right direction

When Ricky Williams had a zoom interview with Earl Campbell on Monday afternoon, they were speaking for the first time since the University of Texas, their beloved alma mater, had given them the most significant of their myriad soccer honors.

“Hey, Ricky! Congratulations, brother,” Campbell said.

“Right back with you,” said Williams.

“What the hell did you and the Jamail guys get me to?” Campbell asked with a grin.

With a powerful push from the three sons of the late Joe Jamail, whose name has been on FieldTurf at Darrell K’s Royal Texas Memorial Stadium since 1997, the university decided to name the field after Campbell, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1977. and Williams, who brought the Heisman back to Austin 21 years later.

“It is obviously a great personal honor. But I see it as symbolic,” said 43-year-old Williams. “Wherever the country is, I understand the need to demolish statues. But I think this shows that it’s not just about demolishing things. We want to build something and use this platform.

“I am proud that this is my university and it was created organically by the players. There is a lot more that needs to be changed. But this is a step in the right direction. I think it is an example of the rest of the country. “

Campbell, 65, is old enough to remember how the state championship that his John Tyler High School won in 1973 kept racist tensions under control in his hometown of Tyler, Texas.

“I learned that the American people don’t like change,” said Campbell. “And I think because of the events of slavery in this country for our people over the past 400 years, this change is here … people had to lose their lives for this to happen.”

When a group of Texas student athletes called for a series of changes to address racial inequalities on the university campus on June 12, something unexpected happened.

You have achieved results. You got results instantly.

The academics listened. Check-writing alumni like Dahr Jamail listened. The university decided that tomorrow’s leaders, who were probably admitted to their campus because of their SAT results and 40-fold results, had a point. And on Monday, the university announced a number of changes to make Forty Acres more welcoming to African Americans.

“Let’s start putting our money where our mouth is,” Campbell said, “our mouth where our heart is.”

That pretty much describes the measures that were taken on Monday.

The State University of Texas, which was a member of the Confederacy, takes the name of Robert L. Moore, a professed racist, from its building for physics, math, and astronomy.

The University of Texas, which only integrated when the US Supreme Court ordered the law school in 1950 to approve Heman Sweatt, will erect a statue of Sweatt near the entrance to the law school.

The University of Texas, which was the last pure white national champion to set up the field at Texas Memorial Stadium in 1969, will erect a statue of Julius Whittier in the stadium, who was the first black player to receive a letter a year later.

And the University of Texas will remove the name of Joe Jamail, a lawyer in Houston and one of the university’s great benefactors, from the FieldTurf stadium.

“If you pull a white man’s name off the field and line up Ricky and Earl? I think that’s pretty important,” said Dr. Leonard N. Moore, Vice President of the University for Diversity and Social Engagement.

Williams appreciated how many cups had to line up for the lock to open.

“The younger children had to get up and say something,” he said. “Then the rich white man needed to do something about it. Then the bureaucracy needed to take it seriously and do something about it. I think everyone who works together is how we got here.”

The “wealthy white man” is Dahr Jamail, 67, whose father had a close relationship with Royal, the coach who led the Longhorns to three national championships. Jamail met Campbell when they were both teenagers. Texas recruited Campbell and he came to the Jamail house for dinner. The recruitment rules were looser at the time.

“Joyce [Clark, the Jamail family cook] cooked lobster-sized shrimp, “said Jamail.

Two decades later, the summer after Williams’ college year, Campbell Williams drove from Austin to Houston to meet Joe and Dahr Jamail. Joe died five years ago. Decades later, Campbell and Williams Dahr Jamail stay close.

“We’re going a long way back,” said Jamail. “It is so difficult to explain that we really are a family. If school increases them, it will only bring another one of us [family’s] Names, really. “

The student athletes didn’t get everything they asked for. “The Eyes of Texas”, whose roots lie in minstrels, remains the school song. The truth said Dr. Moore is that “black moods didn’t even agree to get rid of the song”.

The university will rename one of the four campus buildings named after confederates and / or racists. But they promised programs and exhibitions to put “The Eyes of Texas” and the racists in a historical context that will provide a more complete picture.

However, the Texas sports department has pledged an “investment of several million dollars” to fund programs to attract and retain black students. The university promised to re-contact minority students in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, not to mention an intensified search for minority faculties worldwide.

When both sides get something and leave something on the table, one speaks of compromises. You may not be familiar with the term. It’s rarely used in the U.S. Congress, where a Texan named Lyndon Johnson used it to create historic civil rights laws in the 1950s and 1960s. In the current demolition culture, it is easier to reject the other side than to sit down and find a solution.

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