Yes, it has come to this: I will defend Pomona's school song.
You see, the story has allegedly racist origins. And for that all Pomona students -- dead and alive -- must atone for their sins.
Even though a professor quoted in TSL elucidates that history, Dean Feldblum says "[Pomona] students must be open to critical self-examination of our College's history, consider the implications of this revelation, and discuss together our response." Now that doesn't sound threatening, does it?
Here's what the music expert says.
The Claremont Insider got a copy of the letter from Dean Miriam Feldblum. (Just how, I'm not entirely sure, but well done, sir.)Graydon Beeks, the music professor that confirmed the story, said the music and lyrics are more reminiscent of a hymn than of a minstrel performance.
“My sense is that Mr. Loucks was not inspired by the minstrel show to write ‘Hail, Pomona, Hail!,’ but by a desire to write a school song,” he said. “There is nothing in the words that relates to minstrel show traditions, and so far as I can tell the words are eminently suitable to their purpose as a school song.”
The story about Pomona's history with minstrelsy seems silly on several levels.
Will someone please point out what is racist about the song itself? The text seems clear enough.
Hail! Pomona, hail! We, thy sons and daughters, singIf the song's lyrics aren't racist and no one knows the history, why bring it up? What does it matter?
Praises of thy name,
Praises of thy fame.
Til the heav'ns above shall ring:
To the name of Pomona
Alma Mater hail to thee!
To the spirit true of the White and Blue.
All hail! Pomona hail!
The larger question here is the following: Does Pomona really want to go down this road? If a large donor gave them money back in the day that was from a questionable source, would they question their own history?
What do you think about this story?
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10 comments:
I think you're "obessed" with the right issues.
If your school's song was written to be the finale of a musical celebrating the great leadership of Saddam Hussein, would you care that the words didn't explicitly mention Saddam?
The problem with analogies is that it gets you into sloppy thinking.
The real question is why now? Pomona's song has no racist or bad words in the text itself. What am I to care if someone sang it on the moon? The song now means something different for the people who experienced it.
Thanks for the ad hominem attack and the moon non sequitor but I rather like my analogy. Since your question is why now--lets do an analogy that is a little more historical:
If Claremont's Alma Mater was written by Nazi sympathizers and performed at the end of a benefit for Hitler would you really care that the song now means something different? Wouldn't knowing that--even if you didn't find out for half a century--affect what you thought of the song?
I think the real issue is that minstrel shows may not have the same poignancy for you that they might for other people. That's why I use Hitler or Saddam as a touchstone so you can maybe understand the equivalence that a lot of people draw for the terrorism associated with anti-black racism in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Who knows what Pomona will ultimately decide about its alma mater but to say that it shouldn't even debate whether and how the meaning changes with this new information--or indeed to say that simply by virtue of its age there is some sort of statute of limitations on its relevance-- doesn't seem like a tenable or intellectually viable position. Let the college talk it over. How can some debate be worse than none?
Thanks for the polite response, Nathan. The problem with analogies is that you can always find one that elicits a different emotional response from the reader or audience by changing names. It walks away from a discussion of principle.
I'll answer it obliquely.You see I love driving on highways. The highway, though, you see, is a creation of the Third Reich.
Does that make highways a Nazi creation? Well, yes, they are, but they are also a creation that we now follow in the U.S. because their worth is evident to us.
In much the same way, the Pomona song isn't a racist document, even if its parentage is problematic.
I would agree that America's history of racism is tragic, indeed, but we do not reject its fruits today. We do not rip up the railroads built on the backs of Chinese labor or refuse to plant the fields taken from the Indians.
No one is suggesting that Pomona not debate the song, but we are suggesting a more measured response than "slavery bad, minstrels bad and therefore song bad."
Sometimes, a song is just a song. But sometimes, a song is an alma mater that, by definition, carries with it some symbolic meaning and attachment to the past. So Charles, I disagree when you say it doesn't matter if Pomona's school song has a problematic parentage.
I see how much you hate analogies but indulge me for a moment. (You may not even find this one so distasteful since it's closer to an apples to apples comparison.) If someone discovered that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner for the finale of a play that mocked slavery, a lot of people would probably be shocked and appalled. Even if the words of the song made no reference to slavery or the play, many might find it difficult to support its continued use as a national anthem that represents the country and its people. Would you want to sing a song that you previously thought was inspired by a young country's fight against its former tyrannical parent but now know was nothing but a cheap showtune?
While it's obviously of much less significance than the national anthem, the Pomona community should similarly care about whether they want "Hail, Pomona, Hail" to continue to represent the school, its students, and alumni.
I also wanted to address another point you made of "Why bring it up" if "no one knows the history." If you take your argument to the logical extreme, that's like asking why people care about anything. As a student at a liberal arts college, are you really saying you prefer ignorance? Because that's how it comes across.
Finally, the tone of your headline and question of "why bring it up" suggests that some cabal of left-wing conspiracy theorists have been hard at work hell-bent on unearthing Pomona's racist past. Have you considered that a student started by simply researching the history of the school and its song and made an accidental discovery?
The only thing I would add to A Pomona Alum's polite but well-argued comment is a word on linguistic politics. It strikes me that your problem with analogies are a little disingenuous since you used one in your original post ("If a large donor gave them money back in the day that was from a questionable source, would they question their own history?") You also used one in your reply to me (about highways being a product of the Third Reich).
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Pomona alumni myself. Since we are both students of the liberal arts, Charles, I believe we have a responsibility to offer and accept or reject analogies on their merits instead of rejecting analogies as an invalid way to reason. In fact, I think if you made an honest attempt to carry out your injunction you would be hard pressed to make any sort of effective argument.
I considered both of your analogies, Charles. I think the donor analogy is the stronger one and I think that if someone had done something truly reprehensible and shocking to the conscience of Pomona's community, it may be the right thing to do to return the donation. For instance, while I was on the ASPC Senate as a student, I supported Pomona's divestment from shares of objectionable corporations. This is by no means a clear line, though, and, as with your autobahn analogy, is not a perfect analog as these both involve real, tangible benefits that must be weighed against symbolism and integrity. By contrast, the alma mater provides no such tangible gain save the symbolism that is itself now in question.
This leads me to my final point, which is really a request for you to honestly answer the Hitler, Saddam or Francis Scott Key analogies that have been made. Would you still accept your school song benign though the lyrics may be had they been born in such ignominious circumstances? It's an honest analogy and an honest question. I'd appreciate a response on the merits or, at least, an explanation of why you think Nazi Germany or Saddam's brutal dictatorship in Iraq to be categorically different than the legacy of lynchings, slavery and the Jim Crow South.
Fair enough points about the analogies. If I had more time, I would use axiomatic reasoning as opposed to using analogies. Because I don't have that time, I have to resort to analogies to show why your analogies are weaker. The very fact that I can do that shows that analogy isn't the best of techniques. Analogies are short hands for introducing emotions into a debate.
I do not believe that money given to Pomona ought to ever be returned (as long as Pomona received federal tax dollars.) Once Pomona starts receiving federal money, it becomes a public good and therefore any money it gets to ween it off that public good, I see as a good thing.
I also don't believe that it is morally right to reject money from racists, child molesters, etc., because they have the right to give out their money as they see fit. Now if they stole that money or used force to get that money, then I have problems, but otherwise if it's money they got from freely trading their services in an open market, I don't have a problem with it.
Pomona doesn't have the right to reject money because it "shocks" some people's conscience. We all have different notions of what is shocking, after all. I personally find it shocking that people would divest from companies that even though not perfect, can still give jobs to people who otherwise wouldn't have them.
Although the divestment question is a larger one -- I would stipulate that divestment is almost never a smart tactic and that it's negative consequences are often too large-- I find it mighty odd that you can speak for everyone just by being elected to a popularity contest like ASPC.
The reason I don't want to answer your analogies is because we cannot answer those questions without looking at the emotional connections for some people. I try to refrain from using those
After all, who am I to say which is better -- slavery or Nazi Germany? All I know is that a song is a song. If the song itself is beautiful, why can't we just look at it and appreciate it? Some great writers did awful things in the personal lives but that doesn't destroy the value of their art. As you implicitly suggest in your analogies, once we accept the premise that some can dictate to all what we sing or don't sing, why draw the line there? Why not censor movies on campus? Themes at parties? (Well, I guess we already did that...)
New groups will emerge demanding that certain things be censored so that they can exercise their power -- their force -- over others. How is that fair?
I can just as easily point to some people in Pomona who like the song anyways and think Pomona ought to continue having it. Why do those people get ignored while others, the offended, get a right to veto a school song?
What song will replace it? Who gets to decide? Will no song replace it?
That song was most likely composed in the original P.C. I believe was on second street in downtown Pomona. Not in Claremont Ca. The city that has been accussed of plenty of racial controvesial tactics by police task force and other city officials....
I think we should think of ourselves as a community. I noticed that a previous poster has some fears that should be discussed. He is afraid that "[n]ew groups will emerge demanding that certain things be censored so that they can exercise their power -- their force -- over others."
It seems to me that THIS is about freedom of choice. As of now, we are all forced to sing this song. And if you chose to not sing, you are forced to hear it being sung around you. I was forced to on numerous occasions. On the first day, on the last day, and too many times in between. I feel dirty that it has such detestable origins and this could have been avoided. I was robbed of a choice. I never wanted to sing minstrel songs. It seems that the current situation could be best described as people exercising their power—their force—over others. We should believe that society does not have to be one group being in power, and then another group will take that power to do the same to that first group. That’s not something to be feared. Lets everyone try to open their minds to an America (microcosm: Pomona college) that can organize itself more freely and respectfully. Power does not need to be hierarchical…especially among students and in an intellectual community.
I think making the origins public and talking about it is a movement toward this 'freedom' that everyone seems to want to hoard for themselves. Real freedom is about information, not ignorance and stubborn adherence to the status quo.
Pomona's campus is still less than 2,000 students. It is sad that before getting into the debate and really looking at all sides of the issue people are divided and entrenched. There seems to be some conviction that people are fundamentally out to destroy each other. Maybe people just don't want to sing this song. I don't think they want to eventually take over and create some police state built around censoring you. Think about the bigger picture. Think about collective progress.
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