Late Addition to the 2008 Black on Campus Hall of Shame: The Texas Southern Marching Band Plays Plies
2008 was marked by so many wonderful developments in higher education for Black people, that I did not even bother to compile a Hall of Shame list. While there were certainly setbacks and disheartening moments, the balance was toward the positive. If I had chosen to put together a roster of low points, though, this performance from the Texas Southern University marching band would have ranked pretty high.
If you aren’t familiar with either this song, “Please Excuse My Hands,” or the artist who made it famous (the rapper Plies), then I invite you to click HERE for the lyrics and HERE to watch the music video.
I could write a whole treatise on how a song whose lyrics mark rapper Plies as an apologist for unwanted touching seems at cross purposes with Texas Southern University’s stated mission, to “produce competent graduates who are poised to make positive contributions to humanity.” Instead, though, I’ll just let the song lyrics speak for themselves.
Posted by Ajuan Mance
Posted in Academia, African American Students, African Americans, Black Colleges, Black History, Black Students, Current Events, Higher Education, Please Excuse My Hands, Plies, race, Texas Southern University, Uncategorized
April 6th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I saw the lyrics.
Where is the petition from parents to fire the band director?
April 7th, 2009 at 12:26 am
The unfortunate thing is that this is probably not the first time nor will it probably be the last that such a song is used during half-time entertainment. Sad…sad…