| Leveling the Playing Field: The Story of the Syracuse Eight Subjects: Syracuse University -- Football -- History; Syracuse Orange (Football team) -- History; Racism in sports -- New York (State) -- Syracuse -- History; Discrimination in sports -- New York (State) -- Syracuse -- History; African American football players --; Leveling the Playing Field tells the story of the African American members of the 1969-70 Syracuse University football team who petitioned for racial equality on their team. The petition had four demands: access to the same academic tutoring made available to their white teammates; better medical care for all team members; starting assignments based on merit rather than race; and a discernible effort to racially integrate the coaching staff, which had been all white since 1898. David Marc is the author of numerous books, including Bonfire of the Humanities: Television, Subliteracy , and Long-Term Memory Loss . |