Tackling Jim Crow

Abstract

This thesis examines the extent of Jim Crow segregation in college football in the era immediately preceding World War II by focusing on three black stars: Wilmeth Sidat-Singh of Syracuse, Lou Montgomery of Boston College, and Leonard Bates of New York University. Sidat-Singh was passed off by Syracuse as a Hindu before his real ethnicity was revealed. Montgomery was benched by his Catholic university on six separate occasions, including two bowl games. Bates was the beneficiary of a massive student protest for his inclusion, but ultimately was benched by the supposedly liberal NYU. These benchings of northern players against southern teams shows the degrees the south went to in order to impose segregation on every level of society. Perhaps more importantly it shows how willing northern schools were to acquiesce to these southern demands in favor of expediency.