Greg Allen Podcast Transcript

This transcript was exported on Nov 05, 2020 - view latest version here. John Boccacino: Hello, and welcome back to the Cuse Conversations Podcast. My name John Boccacino, the communication specialist in Syracuse University's Office of Alumni Engagement. I'm also a 2003 graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, with a degree in broadcast journalism. I am so glad you found our podcast. Well folks, today on the Cuse Conversations Alumni Podcast, I am pleased to welcome on Greg Allen, a former Syracuse football player, a proud [inaudible 00:00:38] of Syracuse University. He has a terrific story to tell you as one of the members of the Syracuse 8. And, for those who don't know, we're going to get into the details of the Syracuse 8, the racial issues that were taking place on Syracuse University's campus, in the late 60s and early 70s, and the role that Greg and a lot of his teammates took, in fighting for racial equality. These topics are extremely timely, given everything we're dealing with here in 2020 with George Floyd, with Jacob Blake, with all of these social justice movements, that are taking place across the country. John Boccacino: And Greg, I know that's kind of a overarching way to get into our conversation, but first of all, I want to welcome you to the podcast. And, I hope that you're doing well during these tumultuous times. Greg Allen: Yes I am. I'm doing well, me and the family are doing well. Thank you for asking. I appreciate that John. John Boccacino: Does it strike you a bit as deja vu, that history is repeating itself, when we're going through a lot of these same issues that you and your teammates fought through 50 years ago. Greg Allen: Yes and no. I think history tends to move in trends. I don't want to misquote, but I believe it was Lennon who said that, "There decades when there's no change, and then there are weeks when decades change." And, I think we're in that period now. I think that we went through a period of maybe the last 30 years or so, where everyone assumed that we had a handle on, or at least had control over most of the racial issues, and tensions, and social justice issues, here in the United States. But again, as events occur, we're reminded and of course sometimes past histories are brought up, and then we also see that it isn't a history, that it's really a current event, but one that we just haven't given that much attention to until now. John Boccacino: And again, we'll get into the Syracuse 8 of your story. But just to start off, what similarities do you see between the racial climate, and the racial tensions now, and when you're were a student back in the 60s and 70s? Greg Allen: I think a lot of it has to do with education and awareness. When you go back and you think about the late 60s, early 70s, of course, you have to think about the civil rights era. And, that was a specific era, bringing Black people, and people of color to a certain point in history. We were shedding the Jim Crow Laws, and all those things. And, we were now addressing social justice and civil rights openly in courts, voting rights amendment. And as things change, they Greg Allen Cuse Conversation Podcast (Completed 11/05/20) Page 1 of 11 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Nov 05, 2020 - view latest version here. also change for us. And, coming up for me in the 60s, I was just entering my teen years, think about 63, 65 on up. And I had witnessed on television, racial injustice. I had also witnessed it personally growing up. I also witnessed it in my family. So, I witnessed that period of time. Greg Allen: And, I think people started to put things in place, and as a society we started to grow, and we became more tolerant. And then, I think what's currently happening now is that, with the social media, we're now able to witness in real time, things that were mentioned, or things that were told, but not really witnessed and not really seen, and it didn't get the attention that they deserve. But, I think with the advent of social media, and of course technology, things are witnessed in real-time, when you think about George Floyd, we all witnessed that. It wasn't a story told by a news reporter, or an eyewitness told someone else, or it was something that was in printed media. It was something that was right before us. And, if you had a heartbeat and a mind, you had to react to it. You could not just sit there and flip the channel, and say, "Oh, well," and move on. Greg Allen: And, I think that really prick the consciousness of America, and America's conscious. And I mean, it's evident too, when you think about the demonstrations. It wasn't just people of color, it was all people of all colors, of all genders, of different nationalities, religions, creeds, generational differences. But, people came together under one cause saying that, "This is not the America that I want to live in." "I want to live in a better America than that." And, people took to the streets. And to me, I was glad, I guess, to be alive, to witness something like that, because that's what we're all hoping for, is that we can all just see each other as human beings, as Americans, and display our humanity to one another. John Boccacino: It shouldn't be that difficult Greg to accomplish what we're talking about, but it is. And, the fact that we have been fighting these battles, and we'll make progress, and we'll take steps back, and it's the long journey, the long moral journey that we're all on. Hopefully it bends towards justice and arcs towards justice, and we're all in this together with this battle. And, that's why you're right, it was so powerful seeing in real-time and it was painful, but it was so jarring that we all have to wake up, and hopefully do our part. John Boccacino: And, I'm glad that we were able to have the conversation that you held. For our listeners, the reason Greg and I wanted to chat, end of September there was this incredibly powerful program that the Office of Multicultural Advancement put on, with Greg Allen and Joe Ehrmann. One of his teammates for the Syracuse football teams, in the late 60s and early 70s, called the Syracuse 8. Then, Now and Forever Orange, recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Syracuse 8 protests. Let's start there Greg, as we delve into our next part of the podcast. The Syracuse 8, and your connection to Syracuse. Why did you want to come to Syracuse in the first place, to play for coach Schwartzwalder, and to be a member of the football team? Greg Allen Cuse Conversation Podcast (Completed 11/05/20) Page 2 of 11 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Nov 05, 2020 - view latest version here. Greg Allen: Of course, growing up in the late sixties, Jim Brown was probably every African- American athletes idol. Here, he was this great all American football player, and even at the time when he played recognized as probably being the best football player in the country, and they say, "Now, ever." So, I had a predisposition to Syracuse based on Jim Brown. As I got older, and of course, started my athletic career in high school, I learned of others that had gone to Syracuse, like John Mackey, Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman, Floyd little, Art Baker. There were so many, African-Americans had gone to Syracuse. And, had gotten degrees, and going on to the NFL. And, that was the ideal situation for any high school athlete, and for me as well, to get to a division one school, and especially with the preeminence of Syracuse, and being a running back, it was the most logical, and ideal place for me to attend. I had other offers from other major division one programs, but Syracuse was always, one of the ones at the top of the list. John Boccacino: What was it like for you to start off? What were your expectations for Syracuse, and for the football team? And, did you think that there was any... Like, what was the racial climate when you were a student back there too, when you first walked on the campus? Greg Allen: When I first got to Syracuse, the enrollment on campus was, I think, 16,000 plus, but there're only, I think, 160, 70 African-American students, people of color on campus. I didn't understand that, my senior year I got recruited, I came to campus, I went to a couple of events, and of course the events I went to, there were other African-American students at Syracuse there. And so, I just thought of a place of 16,000, there had to be at least a couple thousand, African- American students as well. I soon found out differently.

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