1968 Olympics Black Power salute

Gold medallist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist John Carlos (right) showing the raised fist on the podium after the 200 m race at the 1968 Summer Olympics; both wear Olympic Project for Human Rights badges. Peter Norman (silver medalist, left) from Australia also wears an OPHR badge in solidarity to Smith and Carlos.

The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a political demonstration conducted by the African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City. As they turned to face their flags and hear the American national anthem ("The Star-Spangled Banner"), they each raised a black-gloved fist and kept them raised until the anthem had finished. Smith, Carlos and Australian silver medalist Peter Norman all wore human rights badges on their jackets. In his autobiography, Silent Gesture, Tommie Smith stated that the gesture was not a "Black Power" salute, but a "human rights salute". The event is regarded as one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games.[1]

The protest

On the morning of 16 October 1968,[2] US athlete Tommie Smith won the 200 meter race with a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Australia's Peter Norman finished second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the US' John Carlos won third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to the podium for their medals to be presented by David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter. The two US athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty.[3] Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar workers in the US and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage."[4] All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals.[5] Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on 16 October 1968[2] were inspired by Edwards' arguments.[6]

The famous picture of the event was taken by photographer John Dominis.[7]

Both US athletes intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove. For this reason, Carlos raised his left hand as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute.[8] When The Star-Spangled Banner played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd.[9] Smith later said, "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."[3]

International Olympic Committee response

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Avery Brundage deemed it to be a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were supposed to be. In response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the two athletes being expelled from the Games.[10]

A spokesman for the IOC said it was "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit."[3] Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable.[11]

Brundage had been one of the United States' most prominent Nazi sympathisers even after the outbreak of the Second World War,[12] and his removal as president of the IOC had been one of the three stated objectives of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.[13]

In 2013, the official IOC website stated that "Over and above winning medals, the black American athletes made names for themselves by an act of racial protest."[14]

Aftermath

Smith and Carlos were largely ostracized by the U.S. sporting establishment and they were subject to criticism. Time magazine showed the five-ring Olympic logo with the words, "Angrier, Nastier, Uglier", instead of "Faster, Higher, Stronger".[15] Back home, they were subject to abuse and they and their families received death threats.[16]

Smith continued in athletics, playing in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals[17] before becoming an assistant professor of physical education at Oberlin College. In 1995, he helped coach the U.S. team at the World Indoor Championships at Barcelona. In 1999 he was awarded the California Black Sportsman of the Millennium Award. He is now a public speaker.

John Carlos (left) and Tommie Smith (center) wearing black gloves, black socks, and no shoes at the 200 m award ceremony of the 1968 Olympics

Carlos' career followed a similar path. He tied the 100 yard dash world record the following year. Carlos also tried professional football, he was a 15th round selection in the 1970 NFL Draft, but a knee injury curtailed his tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.[18] He then went on to the Canadian Football League where he played one season for the Montreal Alouettes.[19] He fell upon hard times in the late 1970s. In 1977, his ex-wife committed suicide, leading him to a period of depression.[20] In 1982, Carlos was employed by the Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to promote the games and act as liaison with the city's black community. In 1985, he became a track and field coach at Palm Springs High School. As of 2012, Carlos works as a counselor at the school.[21]

Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honoring their action.[22]

Norman, who was sympathetic to his competitors' protest, was reprimanded by his country's Olympic authorities and ostracized by the Australian media.[23] He was not picked for the 1972 Summer Olympics, despite having qualified 13 times over.[8] In fact, Australia did not send any male sprinters at all to the 1972 Olympics for the first time since the modern Olympics began in 1896.[24] When Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.[25]

Wayne Collett and Vincent Matthews were banned from the Olympics after they staged a Black protest in the 1972 games.[26]

Documentary films

The 2008 Sydney Film Festival featured a documentary about the protest entitled Salute. The film was written, directed and produced by Matt Norman, a nephew of Peter Norman.[27]

On 9 July 2008, BBC Four broadcast a documentary, Black Power Salute, by Geoff Small, about the protest. In an article, Small noted that the athletes of the British team attending the 2008 Olympics in Beijing had been asked to sign gagging clauses which would have restricted their right to make political statements but that they had refused.[28]

Tributes

In a 2011 speech to the University of Guelph, Akaash Maharaj, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and head of Canada's Olympic Equestrian team, said, "In that moment, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman, and John Carlos became the living embodiments of Olympic idealism. Ever since, they have been inspirations to generations of athletes like myself, who can only aspire to their example of putting principle before personal interest. It was their misfortune to be far greater human beings than the leaders of the IOC of the day."[29]

San Jose

In 2005, San Jose State University honored former students Smith and Carlos with a 22-foot high statue of their protest, created by artist Rigo 23.[30] A student, Erik Grotz, initiated the project: "One of my professors was talking about unsung heroes and he mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos. He said these men had done a courageous thing to advance civil rights, and, yet, they had never been honored by their own school." The statues are located in a central part of the campus, next to Robert D. Clark Hall and Tower Hall. Those who come to view are allowed to participate by standing on the monument. The man who won 2nd place was an Australian, Peter Norman. He did not raise a fist but did wear a button supporting the men and the Olympic Project for Human Rights. Norman is not included in the monument so viewers can be in his place. There is a plaque in the empty spot inviting those to “Take a Stand.”

The reason for Norman’s likeness’ absence from the monument was because he requested that his space was left empty so visitors to the exhibit could stand in his place and feel what he felt.[31]

Victory Salute (2005) Rigo 23
Victory Salute (2005) Rigo 23 SJSU

The bronze statues are designed shoeless, but there are two shoes included at the base of the monument. The right shoe, a bronze, blue Puma, is next to Carlos; while the left shoe is placed behind Smith. The signature of the artist Rigo 23 is on the back of Smith’s shoe, and the year 2005 is on Carlos’ shoe.

The faces of the statues are realistic and emotional. "The statue is made of fiberglass stretched over steel supports with an exoskeleton of ceramic tiles."[32] Rigo 23 used 3D scanning technology and computer-assisted virtual imaging to take full-body scans of the men. Their track pants and jackets are a mosaic of dark blue ceramic tiles while the stripes of the track suits are detailed in red and white. The use of mosaic tiles is a traditional and ancient art form.

Smith is holding a wood framed box of a tiled white and green olive branch. Smith’s jacket is zipped up; the sculpture is tight, closed and fitted. He wears a medal and OPHR button. The red letters USA are on his chest and running number 307. His eyes are downcast but not dispirited. His right fist is raised with impact and guidance. He stands in a pose of supremacy. The statue is singular, like a column.

Victory Salute (2005) by Rigo 23, San Jose State University.

Carlos stands behind him; his jacket is open allowing the statue to have waves and movement. His form is more fluid and his eyes are more at peace. His stare is down and slightly to the right. His left arm is raised but relaxed and bent at the elbow. His right arm is behind his back and sculpted in a thumb up position. His necklace of beads is displayed with green, yellow and red ceramic tiles. His running number is divided in front because of the zipper, 25 9, but together on the back of the statue.

In January 2007, History San Jose opened a new exhibit called Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power, covering the San Jose State athletic program "from which many student athletes became globally recognized figures as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reshaped American society."[33]

Sydney mural

Three Proud People mural in Newtown, New South Wales.

In Australia, an airbrush mural of the trio on podium was painted in 2000 in the inner-city suburb of Newtown in Sydney. Silvio Offria, who allowed the mural to be painted on his house in Leamington Lane by an artist known only as "Donald," said that Norman, a short time before he died in 2006, came to see the mural. "He came and had his photo taken; he was very happy," he said.[34] The monochrome tribute, captioned "THREE PROUD PEOPLE MEXICO 68," was under threat of demolition in 2010 to make way for a rail tunnel[34] but is now listed as an item of heritage significance.[35]

West Oakland mural

In the historically African-American neighborhood of West Oakland, California there was a large mural depicting Smith and Carlos on the corner of 12th Street and Mandela Parkway.

Above the life sized depictions read "Born with insight, raised with a fist" (Rage Against the Machine lyrics); previously it read "It only takes a pair of gloves."[36] In early February 2015, the mural was razed.[37]

The private lot was once a gas station, and the mural was on the outside wall of an abandoned building or shed. The owner wanted to pay respect to the men and the moment but also wanted a mural to prevent tagging.

The State was monitoring water contamination levels at this site; the testing became within normal levels “so the state ordered the removal of the tanks, testing equipment, and demolition of the shed.”[38]

Music

The song "Mr. John Carlos" by the Swedish group Nationalteatern on their 1974 album Livet är en fest is about the event and its aftermath.

Rage Against the Machine used a cropped photo of the salute on the cover art for the "Testify" single (2000).

The cover art for the single "HiiiPoWeR" (2011) by American rapper Kendrick Lamar features a cropped photo of the salute.

In the song "The Man" (2014) by Aloe Blacc at the end in the right corner can be seen two men standing giving the Black Power Salute.

Works

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lewis, Richard (8 October 2006). "Caught in Time: Black Power salute, Mexico, 1968". The Sunday Times (London). Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  2. 1 2 "1968: Black athletes make silent protest" (PDF). SJSU. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 "1968: Black athletes make silent protest". BBC. 17 October 1968. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  4. ↑ Lucas, Dean (11 February 2007). "Black Power". Famous Pictures: The Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  5. ↑ Peter Norman. Historylearningsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 13 June 2015.
  6. ↑ Spander, Art (24 February 2006). "A Moment In Time: Remembering an Olympic Protest". CSTV. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  7. ↑ "Hope and Defiance: The Black Power Salute That Rocked the 1968 Olympics". Life. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  8. 1 2 Frost, Caroline (17 October 2008). "The other man on the podium". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  9. ↑ "John Carlos" (PDF). Freedom Weekend. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  10. ↑ On This Day: Tommie Smith and John Carlos Give Black Power Salute on Olympic Podium. Findingdulcinea.com. Retrieved on 13 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Olympic Story", editor James E. Churchill, Jr., published 1983 by Grolier Enterprises Inc.
  12. ↑ Documentary "Hitler's Pawn: The Margeret Lambert Story", produced by HBO and Black Canyon Productions
  13. ↑ Silent Gesture – Autobiography of Tommie Smith (excerpt via Google Books) – Smith, Tommie & Steele, David, Temple University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-59213-639-1
  14. ↑ Mexico 1968 (official International Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "The Olympics: Black Complaint". Time. 25 October 1968. Retrieved 12 August 2012. "Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the motto of the Olympic Games. "Angrier, nastier, uglier" better describes the scene in Mexico City last week. There, in the same stadium from which 6,200 pigeons swooped skyward to signify the opening of the "Peace Olympics," Sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two disaffected black athletes from the U.S. put on a public display of petulance that sparked one of the most unpleasant controversies in Olympic history and turned the high drama of the games into theater of the absurd.
  16. ↑ "Tommie Smith 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist". Tommie Smith. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  17. ↑ Tommie Smith. biography.com
  18. ↑ Ray Didinger; Robert S. Lyons (2005). The Eagles Encyclopedia. Temple University Press. pp. 244–. ISBN 978-1-59213-454-0.
  19. ↑ http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/c/carlos_john.htm
  20. ↑ Amdur, Neil (10 October 2011). "Olympic Protester Maintains Passion". New York Times. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  21. ↑ Dobuzinskis, Alex (21 July 2012). "Former Olympians: No regrets over 1968 protest". Reuters. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  22. ↑ "Salute at ESPYs – Smith and Carlos to receive Arthur Ashe Courage Award". espn.com. 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  23. ↑ Wise, Mike (5 October 2006). "Clenched fists, helping hand". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  24. ↑ Hurst 2006
  25. ↑ Flanagan, Martin (6 October 2006). "Olympic protest heroes praise Norman's courage". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  26. ↑ Johnson Publishing Company (1973). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 32.
  27. ↑ "2008 Program Revealed!". 8 May 2008. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  28. ↑ Small, Geoff (9 July 2008). "Remembering the Black Power protest". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  29. ↑ Speech to the Ontario Equine Center at the University of Guelph, Akaash Maharaj, 27 May 2011
  30. ↑ Slot, Owen (19 October 2005). "America finally honours rebels as clenched fist becomes salute". The Sunday Times (London). Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  31. ↑ "Part 2: John Carlos, 1968 U.S. Olympic Medalist, On the Response to His Iconic Black Power Salute". Democracy Now!. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2015. …I would like to have a blank spot there and have a commemorative plaque stating that I was in that spot. But anyone that comes thereafter from around the world and going to San Jose State that support the movement, what you guys had in ’68, they could stand in my spot and take the picture.
  32. ↑ Crumpacker, John. "SF GATE - Olympic Protest".
  33. ↑ "Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power". History San José. 28 July 2005. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  34. 1 2 "Last stand for Newtown's 'three proud people'" by Josephine Tovey, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 July 2010
  35. ↑ Heritage Assessment of the Three Proud People mural 2012. (PDF) . Retrieved on 13 June 2015.
  36. ↑ It Only Takes a Pair of Gloves Mural. oaklandwiki.org
  37. ↑ West Oakland Mural Bulldozed | bayareaintifada. Bayareaintifada.wordpress.com (3 February 2015). Retrieved on 2015-06-13.
  38. ↑ "West Oakland Mural Bulldozed".

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.