Earlier this week, something called The OU Undergraduate Student Congress – an organization that apparently prepares ambitious students for the bureaucracy, inefficiency, and general absurdity of the US political process – voted on a pointless resolution that would have given an official "Boomer Sooner" to all the athletic teams for a job well done.
Unfortunately, the well-intentioned resolution failed because "Boomer Sooner" is bad now.
Via the OU Daily:
The Undergraduate Student Congress voted against a resolution Tuesday amid concerns of the resolution’s use of the phrase “boomer sooner.”
The resolution, authored by Humanities Representative Brian Owings, would have been Congress publicly saying “boomer sooner” to congratulate OU athletic teams. The resolution would then have been distributed to representatives of those respective teams.
Another representative proposed a hostile amendment to strike the phrase “boomer sooner” due to the controversy surrounding it, but the amendment was defeated by a hand vote.
Opponents of the resolution argued against it because of the controversy of the phrase "boomer sooner," an issue brought to the forefront in September by student group Indigenize OU, which argued that the phrase contributes to the erasure of Native people and their history. Others worried that it would show favoritism to sports teams over other campus groups.
The resolution was defeated by a vote of 13 for and 20 against, with 1 representative abstaining.
I touched a bit on this topic last fall when Indigenize OU first asked David Boren to get rid of Sooners as a nickname. Because I'm lazy and just found out Prince died (WTF?!), let's do some self plagiarism...
I understand all the awful things that happened to Native Americans and their culture during the formation and development of our country. I think team names like Redskins, Savages or even Indians should be changed, but this takes things too far. The Land Run is part of Oklahoma’s culture and heritage. If it didn’t happen, I’m pretty sure none of us would exist or be here. I know I sure wouldn’t. My great-grandfather Bill Blevins participated in the Land Run of 1889 and staked a…
Wait a second. I’m starting to sound like one of those “But the confederate flag is part of our culture” people. Granted, I don’t think you can fairly compare a universal symbol of hate and racism to a public land distribution that was authorized by Congress – they’re entirely different conversations – but I do kind of see Indigenize OU’s point. Maybe Sooners is an offensive name and needs to be to be changed. If so, I’d suggest that OU become the “Switzers.” Just like the Sooners, he’s a cheater and he wasn’t born here. Plus, he’s on the board of The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, so both OU grads and Native Americans like him. It sounds like a fair compromise.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Anyway, I wouldn't be opposed to OU getting rid of Sooners as a mascot. This isn't because Boomer or Sooner is offensive – well, the Horse Pigs pictured above definitely are but that's a different story. It's because naming your school after a bunch of con artists, swindlers and thieves who didn't abide by the rules is stupid. What were the OU students in 1908 thinking? This would be like some school today choosing the Ponzi Schemers or Hackers as a mascot. Why celebrate and honor people who broke the law? It's doesn't make sense. To make matters worse, most people outside of Oklahoma dont' even know what a Sooner is. I remember having to explain the Sooner story to some old co-workers from New York and they thought we were all nuts. As a result, now I just tell people a Sooner is a covered wagon.
Also, the real offensive thing in all this is how the topic even became an issue. The PC and Sensitivity Policing on college campuses is going to far. Students need to lighten up, quit desperately searching for things to offend them, and just enjoy their college-aged bodies and metabolism while they can. Trust me on this. As a professional complainer, they'll have plenty of time to worry about inconsequential matters as they get older. Youth really is wasted on the young.
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