Tommie Smith and John Carlos'

           The 20^th century was known for its civil rights protest. In the 20^th century civil rights movements were booming. The movements consist of the March on Washington, the Kent State Protests and soon on. In this post we are going to be focusing on the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. There were two African Americans who will be talked about for along time through history and the history of sports and the Olympic games. Those two men where American track and field athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos’. Smith and Carlos’ where sprinters on the American team. They ran the 200-meter race. The two men finished on top of the podium in the race. Tommie Smith taking gold and John Carlos’ taking bronze. 
          When the two men where standing on the podium when the national anthem started to play which is the Star-Spangled Banner, the two men performed the Black Power Salute. The Black Power Salute is the raising of the fist in the air. After the anthem the men where booed for making a political statement after leaving the podium. The photograph of Smith and Carlos’ became one of the most iconic photographs in the 20^th century and arguably the most iconic sports images ever. Even according to the Washington post the photograph of the two became one of the most iconic sports images of the 20^th century. The Washington post stated that it is the Black Power salute that rocked the world and left it shook. The United States Olympic Committee said, “The untypical exhibitionism of these athletes violates the basic standards of good manners and sportsmanship, which are so highly valued in the United States, and therefore the two men involved are suspended forthwith from the team and ordered to remove themselves from the Olympic Village”. (1)

The protest that was held on the podium was planned out by the two athletes very carefully. As they took their spot on the podium, before they stepped on the podium, they removed their shoes to protest poverty. The two also wore beads and a scarf to protest lynching’s. The Washington post also stated that Carlos’ recalled that he thought about the symbols that they have chosen for their moment on the world stage at the Olympics. Carlos’ wrote in his book called the The John Carlos’ Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World that when he was on the podium, he looks at his feet in his socks and thought all the black poverty he seen from Harlem to East Texas. Carlos’ unzipped his jacket to support of all the working-class people, the black and white people in Harlem who had to struggle all day working with their hands. Also, in his protest on the podium he covered up his USA uniform with a black shirt in his words to “reflect the shame I felt that my country was traveling at a snail’s pace toward something that should be obvious to all the people of good will”. Tommie and John wore black gloves as well when they held up their fists. But they only had one set of gloves, Smith covered his right and Carlos’ his left and seen in the picture Smith raised his right and Carlos’ his left. As I said earlier in my post the crowd booed them and screamed the national anthem at them. Carlos’ wrote “they screamed it to the point where it seemed less a national anthem than a barbaric call to arms”. (2)

After their protest the men had to leave the Olympic Stadium. When they got back to the states, they were suspended from the U.S. track team. They also received death threats. After Tommie Smith track career he joined the NFL and played 3 seasons with Bengals. And then became a Sociology professor and head coach of the cross-country and track and field at Santa Monica College. John Carlos’ also played in the NFL after his track career he played one season with Eagles and then a year in the Canadian Football League. Finally, he became a guidance counselor at Palm Springs High School in California.

 Also, on when they returned home from the 68 Olympic games, the two men were called the “Black-skinned storm troopers” according to Brent Musburger. Brent Musburger is a columnist for the Chicago American newspaper but originally got known for being a TV sportscaster. Smith and Carlos’ both say they have no regrets for their acts in the 1968 Olympic games. Carlos’ stated that “I went up there as a dignified black man and said, ‘What’s going on is wrong’”. Tommie Smith on there protest “was a cry for freedom and for human rights. We had to be seen because we couldn’t be heard”. (3)

 As I said in my blog proposal this protest was for the human rights of the African American citizens in the United States and how they were being treated unfairly and for the support of black power. The protest also supported the working-class black and white American citizens. This connects to our passage of Gaudium et spes by how it is legitimate to defend our own rights and defend the human rights of others through protest. Also, this was such a big moment in history there is statue in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture of the men on the podium. To read up more on these two men and their induction into the Hall of Fame check out The Root for more information.

     Here is Tommie Smith and John Carlos' on the podium giving the Black Power Salute courtesy of the Washington Post.

      (1) Joesph M. Sheehan, “2 Black Power Advocates Ousted from Olympics,” New York Times, October 19, 1968.

     (2) DeNeen L. Brown, “They Didn't Take The Knee: The Black Power Protest Salute That Shook  the World in 1968,” The Washington Post, September 24, 2017. 

    (3) David Davis, "Olympic Athletes Who Took a Stand,” Smithsonian.com, August 1, 2008.