"We didn't come up there with any bombs. We were trying to wake the country up and wake the world up too."- John Carlos
Tommie Smith was born on June 6, 1944 in Clarksville, Texas. A competitor for his high school basketball, football, and track and field teams, Smith was voted "Most Valuable Athlete" and received a scholarship to attend San Jose State University in 1963. In college, Smith broke or tied thirteen world records.
John Carlos was born in Harlem, New York on June 5, 1945 to Cuban parents. A dedicated sprinter, Carlos earned an athletic scholarship to attend East Texas State University in 1967. He later transferred to San Jose State University, where he met Tommie Smith.
1967: A year of intense racial clashes in the United States. Over 159 riots arose throughout the nation. Perhaps most famous, the Detroit Riot left 43 dead. Muhammed Ali refused to fight in the Vietnam War, was stripped of his boxing titles, fined, and banned from boxing for three years.
Together with Harry Edwards, a sociology professor at San Jose State, Carlos and Smith created the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) in the fall of 1967. The OPHR protested racial segregation and advocated for the boycott of the 1968 Olympic Games by black athletes. Members of the organization believed the United States used the Games to promote a false image of equality that hid the nation's racial problems. The OPHR also advocated for Muhammed Ali's world heavyweight boxing title to be returned, and urged Avery Brundage, who was later described by the National Constitution Center as someone "willing to turn a blind eye to discrimination," to step down from his position as head of the United States Olympic Committee. Ultimately, as the African-American community was divided on whether or not to boycott, the members of the OPHR decided to attend the games and thus remain united.
19.83 seconds. That's how long it took Smith to run 200 meters in the finals of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The previous world and Olympic record of 20.3 seconds had been shattered. Behind Smith finished Australian Peter Norman, while Carlos came in third.
Prior to the medal ceremony, Carlos and Smith informed Norman about their plan for a salute on the podium. Norman responded, "I'll stand with you," and borrowed American rower Paul Hoffman's OPHR badge to wear on the podium.
"This is the land of the free, they told me, from grade school. And then, when I got to the victory stand, it appeared that it wasn't the land of the free." -John Carlos
Carlos and Smith walked up to the podium wearing OPHR badges. They held their shoes in their hands to symbolize the extensive poverty suffered by the African-American community. Carlos explained, it was for the "kids through the South in the '60s—and I'm sure a lot of them are still doing it today — walking 10, 20 miles to and from school every day with no shoes." Carlos wore a necklace with black beads that he explained was "for those individuals that were lynched or killed that no one said a prayer for, that were hung, tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage.” Finally, Carlos wore a black shirt on top of his Team U.S. A. uniform, because, he explained, he was “ashamed of America for America's deeds.”As "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Carlos and Smith lowered their heads and raised their black-gloved fists in the air to show solidarity with the civil rights movement back home.
"I don't feel embraced. I feel like a survivor...It was almost like we were on a deserted island... But we survived."- John Carlos
Contrary to popular belief, Olympic bronze medalist Carlos and Olympic gold medalist Smith were never forced to return their medals. However, this rumor was publicized in what Carlos thinks was an attempt to deter future athlete protests.
"A lot of the athletes thought that winning medals would supersede or protect them from racism. But even if you won the medal it ain't going to save your momma. It ain't going to save your sister or children. It might give you fifteen minutes of fame, but what about the rest of your life?" - John Carlos
Carlos explained the applause and cheers "turned to anger and venom" when he raised his fist. He recalled, "In a split second they started hissing and throwing shit and name-calling."
While Carlos and Smith might not have lost their medals, they were the subject of extreme public outrage and criticism. International Olympic Committee President Brundage, who secured an Olympic Games for Hitler in 1936, complete with Nazi salutes, commented that Carlos and Smith's protest during the medal ceremony was an "outrageous stance" and an affront to the "basic principles of the Olympic Games," which ban political demonstrations. The U.S. Olympic Committee accused the two sprinters of violating "the basic standards of good manners and sportsmanship" of the Olympics, and were kicked out of the Olympic village. The U.S. Olympic Committee suspended Carlos and Smith from the team and gave them 48 hours to leave Mexico.
The reaction from media sources was often just as harsh in their view of Carlos and Smith's gesture. Time Magazine altered the Olympic logo and motto from"Faster, Higher, Stronger," to "Angrier, Nastier, Uglier." The Chicago Tribune claimed Carlos and Smith's behavior was "an embarrassment upon the country,” and an “act contemptuous of the United States.” Chicago American writer Brent Musburger called the athletes a “pair of black-skinned storm troopers.”
However, not all Americans received Carlos and Smith's protest poorly. The U.S. Olympic crew team acknowledged, "We — as individuals — have been concerned about the place of the black man in American society in their struggle for equal rights. As members of the U.S. Olympic team, each of us has come to feel a moral commitment to support our black teammates in their efforts to dramatize the injustices and inequities which permeate our society."
"The aftermath was hell for me and my family" - John Carlos
Those around Smith and Carlos felt the consequences as well. Carlos lost many friends, and explained it was not because "they didn't have love for me or they had disdain for me. They were walking away because they were afraid." Repercussions within his family were even worse. His children were tormented and his marriage crumbled. Carlos stated, "[The stress] drove my wife to lose her mental capacity, to the point where she took her life."
Smith came home to an airport where no one awaited him. He commented that he "had no job and no education, and [he] was married with a seven-month-old son."
Both Smith and Carlos received death threats aimed at themselves and their families.
Peter Norman, despite qualifying for the 1972 Olympics, was forbidden by Australia to attend, likely because of his participation in the famous protest. After years of drinking, depression, and disease, he passed away at age 64. Smith and Carlos, who referred to Norman as their"brother," were pallbearers at his funeral, and both shared eulogies.
In 2012, 44 years after Norman won the silver medal and 38 years after his death, the Australian Parliament issued him a posthumous apology. Parliament recognized Norman's "bravery" and "solidarity," and apologized for the poor "treatment he received upon his return to Australia."
"We bowed our heads in respect to the flag ... you bow your heads in the south in prayer that one day you can stand up to what the anthem says. Justice and freedom for all, equality for everyone, and it wasn't that way. We had a prayer that maybe one day with our actions that this will come about." - John Carlos
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHLETE PROTESTS Against Injustice
2016: Repeated incidents of police officers shooting and killing African Americans continue to dominate national news. On July 6, a Minnesota police officer shot Philando Castile multiple times in front of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter. On July 16, North Miami SWAT team member Jonathan Aledda shot unarmed therapist Charles Kinsey, who had his hands in the air while calming an autistic patient. Spouses of those killed as well as police cameras caught several other shootings on video.
On August 26, Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the 49ers, reignited a movement of athletes protesting racial injustice when he refused to stand for the national anthem. Kaepernick cited police brutality and systemic racial injustice as the motivations for his protests. The quarterback explained, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." Kaepernick acknowledged possible repercussions, but expressed that he would continue to "[stand] up for what is right."
"There are a lot of things that are going on that are unjust [that] people aren't being held accountable for. And that's something that needs to change. That’s something that this country stands for — freedom, liberty, justice for all. And it’s not happening for all right now." -Colin Kaepernick
So what has the public response been to these protests?
According to SportsCenter, the 49ers website sold more more Kaepernick jerseys the first week of September than in the past eight months combined. This increase in sales made Kaepernick's jersey the best-seller in the National Football League (NFL).
The recent protests led by professional athletes such as Kaepernick have also inspired many high school and middle school athletes to show their support. Recent New York Times and The Examiner articles described the protests of 11-12 year old boys who play on their local youth football team in Beaumont, Texas, the Beaumont Bulls. April Parkinson, the mother of one of the young athletes on the team, stated that the local reaction to the first protest was "horrible." Hatred directed toward the team via social media included comments such as “kill them all” and “coaches need to be lynched and fired.”
A recent poll done by E-Poll Marketing Research reveals that Kaepernick is the most disliked player in the NFL.The poll, which included 1,100 Americans, showed that 29 percent of the polled population disliked the quarterback "a lot," a 23 percent increase since August of 2014. The same poll indicated that he is more disliked than NFL players such as Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended from the NFL in 2012 for allegations of sexual assault, and Jameis Winston, who was also investigated for sexual assault. While a whopping 37 percent of white respondents strongly disliked the quarterback, only two percent of African Americans polled felt the same way. In fact, 42 percent replied that they like Kaepernick “a lot.”
In response to the four Miami Dolphins kneeling during the national anthem on Sunday, September 11 this year, Jeffrey Bell, the president of the International Union of Police Associations, declared that "while you play in an NFL game" you temporarily "give up that right of your freedom of speech." The police union asked deputies from the Broward Sheriff's Office not to escort the Miami Dolphins until players all stood for the national anthem.
After Brandon Marshall, a linebacker for the Denver Broncos, joined the protest on Thursday, September 8, he asserted that he had lost a sponsorship deal because of his actions. Kaepernick commented,"That's embarrassing for those companies. They let someone with a strong personality, such strong character, go because they don't believe in racial equality and justice for all."
Perhaps most frightening, the negative response to Kaepernick's protest has not been limited to statements. The quarterback has received a number of death threats from "a couple avenues."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes, "What should horrify Americans is not Kaepernick's choice to remain seated during the national anthem, but that nearly 50 years after Ali was banned from boxing for his stance and Tommie Smith and John Carlos' raised fists caused public ostracization and numerous death threats, we still need to call attention to the same racial inequities."
Smith acknowledged that Kaepernick was "bringing the truth out." The former Olympian added, "Hopefully this is the age of awakening — or you could call it the age of re-awakening."
"Hopefully this is the age of awakening — or you could call it the age of re-awakening." -Tommie Smith
On Wednesday, September 28, the White House commemorated the Olympic and Paralympic athletes who competed at the Rio 2016 Games. Hundreds of medalists and competitors in matching red Nike track jackets streamed through the White House. Two men in their seventies joined them. The men, Smith and Carlos, had finally been recognized by the same institution whose leadership had scorned and chastised them 48 years earlier. The CEO of the United States Olympic Committee asked Smith and Carlos to be ambassadors, to which Carlos explained, "Time has gone by to the point where they had to take a look at themselves and say: 'These guys weren't bad guys… they were courageous enough to make a statement for what they believed in.'"
President Barack Obama referred to the two men as "legendary" and stated, "Tommie and John have played an important and positive role in the evolution of our attitudes about diversity and inclusion, not only in the United States, but around the world." In addition, Obama declared that the 1968 protest "woke folks up and created greater opportunity for those that followed."
"They say it's not time to do this. Then when is the time?" -Arian Foster, running back for the Miami Dolphins
