The undergraduate branch of the student government association at the University of Oklahoma voted down a resolution earlier this week that would have congratulated OU’s sports teams by publicly expressing the school’s catchphrase “boomer sooner.”
Opponents of the resolution contended that saying “boomer sooner” to honor the storied Oklahoma Sooners athletic teams is racially offensive to Native Americans, reports The Oklahoma Daily, the campus newspaper.
A group called Indigenize OU was behind the successful push to remove the words “boomer sooner” from the student council resolution, notes Campus Reform.
The Indigenize OU Facebook page features an April 20 post praising the University of Oklahoma student government association for its “brave and just decision.”
“We think it is a major step in the right direction for non-natives to see ‘Boomer’ and ‘Sooner’ as problematic language with real and violent consequences,” the 355-word Facebook statement continues. “Because the terms ‘Boomer’ and ‘Sooner’ are inextricably tied to colonization and land theft in this state, these terms remain perpetuations of racial violence against indigenous and native communities both on campus and in the Norman and larger Oklahoman community. While many may argue that words are harmless, Indigenize OU knows this to be untrue.”
The Native American group claimed to have received “threats and racially-charged hate speech” in response to its stand against the famous OU phrase “boomer sooner.”
The defeated resolution lost by a vote of 20 against and 13 for, with one student government representative abstaining.
Some critics of the resolution said they thought it was wrong to favor the storied OU athletic teams and not praise other campus groups for their heroics.
Student government association president Daniel Pae also noted that some campus groups have removed the word “Sooner” from their names, according to The Oklahoma Daily.
Last year, OU’s graduate student senate unanimously resolved to recognize and celebrate “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” instead of Columbus Day on each second Monday of each October. (RELATED: U. Oklahoma Student Senate Votes To Ditch Columbus Day For ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’)
The same group, Indigenize OU, was also behind this legislation.
Columbus Day was not a recognized holiday at OU when the 2015 resolution passed. The celebration of “Indigenous Peoples’ Day was to be funded by student activity fees. It would have involved “a celebratory holiday with traditional food, dances and modern culture,” Ashley McCray, member of Indigenize OU, told senate members, according to the OU Daily.
There would also be a spiritual element.
McCray said Indigenize OU also wants the Big 12 athletic powerhouse to change its mascot — and to change other names and terms on campus to satisfy her group’s political agenda.
Aficionados of “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” call any official celebration of Christopher Columbus’s achievements into question because, they say, he — and Europeans generally — treated Native Americans poorly.
Last summer, administrators on the University of Oklahoma campus proudly rolled out a campus-wide mandatory diversity training program requiring every incoming freshman to complete five hours of school-designed diversity training. (RELATED: U. Of Oklahoma To Force FIVE HOURS Of Mandatory ‘Diversity Training’ On All Students)
The massive blueprint for compulsory indoctrination on diversity came three months after the OU branch of the national fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon was almost literally run out of town when a video leaked on the Internet of some members singing an incredibly racist song to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” (WATCH: Oklahoma Frat Shut Down After Racist Video Leaks)
In the wake of the leaking of the racist frat video, OU president David Boren hastily implemented a total crackdown on the entire fraternity. Every resident of the fraternity’s house, which is owned by the college, was ordered to leave in about 48 hours.
The University of Oklahoma — and Boren — are famous for the hilariously light treatment the school gives to football players found responsible for violent crimes.
For example, Joe Mixon, a Sooners running back, was caught on video in a violent July 2014 altercation with another OU student, 20-year-old junior Amelia Rae Molitor. During the altercation, Mixon punched Molitor so hard he broke four bones in her face and knocked her unconscious.
Boren witnessed the video with his own eyes.
For this violent beatdown, Mixon accepted a plea deal on a misdemeanor assault charge. He was punished with a year-long deferred sentence, 100 hours of community service and mandatory counseling. He was suspended from the football team for a season, but faced no other repercussions. He remained on campus and continuing to attend classes like any other student.
Mixon rushed for 753 yards last football season for the Sooners football team.
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