I woke up on Thursday to this story.
A test question in a medical school exam contained the phrase “I can’t breathe” as part of a patient diagnosis and was controversial enough that the professor apologized and promised to review course materials for “intrinsic bias, microaggressions, and other problematic or traumatizing content.”
I actually wanted to write about that, but seeing as how this is a football site, that seemed a bit far-fetched.
Then, Florida President Kent Fuchs released the following statement:
“While I know of no evidence of racism associated with our “Gator Bait” cheer at UF sporting events, there is horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase. Accordingly, University Athletics and the Gator Band will discontinue use of the cheer.”
That horrific racist imagery he’s referring to is that African American children have apparently been referred to as “alligator bait” in the past and may have been used to lure alligators during hunts in Florida. My brother texted me when he saw the announcement and I think summed it up pretty well.
“I mean….holy shit I didn’t even know about that piece of history until now. It’s really gut-wrenching and I’ve learned something horrible about the past, but I would bet a hefty sum of money that the majority of fans have not used that as a derogatory term….”
And therein lies the issue.
Mocking George Floyd or Eric Garner by using the phrase “I can’t breathe” is deplorable behavior. But accidently having it appear in a test question that was written before the Floyd incident has zero intent. I mean, is it a fair expectation that a professor goes back to read every single document he has generated for class anytime there is an incident in a different state?
And calling a small, black child alligator bait – especially after learning about the horrific history associated with the phrase – is likewise deplorable. But I know there isn’t any ill intent when a Gator fan yells it at the opposition on the football field.
Northpoint pastor Andy Stanley gave a talk in 2013 that changed the way I look at relationships.
Stanley described all relationships as having expectations and reality, and when those two things don’t match, there’s a gap. It’s then up to the person who identifies the gap to decide what to do next.
They can fill that gap with distrust and suspicion or they can fill it with trust. They can decide to gossip with coworkers or other complain to their friends or they can go to the person who fell short and deal with the conflict directly.
We don’t do that anymore.
A professor includes wording perceived to be insensitive in a question and students go onto an online chat forum rather than just go and tell the professor. President Fuchs decides to ban a cheer started by former safety Lawrence Wright and has an official with the University Athletic Association notify him rather than calling Wright himself.
Some fans decide to excoriate Fuchs on Twitter even though I believe it is clear that his intent is to be sensitive. Others condemn those hurt by the decision as racist when it is clear that their intent is to retain the memories and traditions that they have from their time at Florida.
I can agree or disagree with Fuchs decision. I can think that it is an overreaction to recent events or I can think it is a wise decision because of a history I didn’t know until today. But the reality is that it doesn’t really matter what I think because Fuchs is the one who gets to make the decision. And I trust that he has the University’s best interests at heart, whether I agree with his decision or not.
If you go back and look at Florida’s traditions, most of them are relatively new. Yes, Mr. Two Bits started his cheer in 1949. But Ben Hill Griffin Stadium didn’t become “The Swamp” until Spurrier gave it that name in 1992. The “Work ‘Em Silly Gators” sign didn’t make an appearance until 1993. And Wright helped kick-off the Gator Bait cheer back in 1995.
We’ll come up with new traditions.
Hopefully we’ll start learning how to fill the gaps in our relationships too.