Table of Contents Prologue
1. Beyond Jackie Robinson
2. “On the Threshold of Broad and Rich Football Pastures”
3. “A Fist That Was Very Much Intentional”
4. “We Play Anyone”
5. “Beat the Devil Out of BYU”
Epilogue
Keywords African American
History, Athletics, Sports, Higher Education, Football History, Racial
Integration, Civil Rights Movement, Popular Culture
Subtitle:Black Civil
Rights and American College Football Author: Lane
Demas Subject:African
American,American
History Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8135-4741-1 PaperISBN: 978-0-8135-4997-2 Pages:
200 pages Publication Date: March 2010
Praise:
"This book will occupy an important–and previously empty–place on the bookshelf of American sports history for many years to come."
—American Historical Review
"This book contributes significantly to the
fields of sports history, African American history, U.S. history, and
civil rights history and provides a fresh look at the integration of
college athletics from several different regions of the United States.
This interregional focus illustrates the complex and multifaceted ways
in which integration— primarily in college athletics—occurred in the
post–World War II era. It also reveals much about the broader forces
that shaped the push to dismantle barriers to political, economic, and
social equality."
—Michael E. Lomax, University of Iowa, Department of
Health and Sports Studies, Associate Professor of Sports History Description:
Even the most casual sports fans celebrate
the achievements of professional athletes, among them Jackie Robinson,
Muhammad Ali, and Joe Louis. Yet before and after these heroes staked a
claim for African Americans in professional sports, dozens of college
athletes asserted their own civil rights on the amateur playing field,
and continue to do so today.
Integrating
the Gridiron, the first book devoted to exploring the racial
politics of college athletics, examines the history of African
Americans on predominantly white college football teams from the
nineteenth century through today. Lane Demas compares the acceptance
and treatment of black student athletes by presenting compelling
stories of those who integrated teams nationwide, and illuminates race
relations in a number of regions, including the South, Midwest, West
Coast, and Northeast. Focused case studies examine the University of
California, Los Angeles in the late 1930s; integrated football in the
Midwest and the 1951 Johnny Bright incident; the southern response to
black players and the 1955 integration of the Sugar Bowl; and black
protest in college football and the 1969 University of Wyoming “Black
14.” Each of these issues drew national media attention and transcended
the world of sports, revealing how fans—and non-fans—used college
football to shape their understanding of the larger civil rights
movement. About the Author:
