40 Year Anniversary Of Tommie Smith and John Carlos ‘68 Olympic Protest

October 18, 2008

Mexico City Games, Civil Rights, Tommie Smith

United States athletes Tommie Smith,
center, and John Carlos, right, extend
their gloved fists skyward during the
playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJbAf8YwFC8]

Forty years ago October 16th,1968, Track and Field athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their famous,silent gesture at the Mexico City Olympic Games gold medal ceremony . A black power salute from the victory stand, They raised two black-gloved fists one on his left and the other one his right to symbolized unity and the struggle Black Americans were suffering in the US at the time . The American press agressive condemned the incident but African-Americans, on the other hand, applauded the gesture.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos had just finished first and third, respectively, in the 200-meter Olympic final. Smith set a World Record, finishing in 19.83 seconds.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--lzACn0aZ8]

Sports Illustrated reports that ”

Smith repeatedly said that he loved his country and simply wanted it to be better. ‘It was not a gesture of hate,’ he said. ‘It was a gesture of frustration.’” Nevertheless, “the tableau was riveting and grim. Most of the 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium seemed mystified. Over some applause there were boos, catcalls.”

Within hours the International Olympic Committee had flatly condemned their political statement, with an IOC spokesperson calling it “a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit.” According to David Davis of the L.A.Times Smith and Carlos have become estranged ”despite the fact that both men lived in Southern California, neither visited the other. Smith was virtually silent about the incident until 1991, when he spoke to Sports Illustrated for the magazine’s “Black Athlete Revisited” retrospective.

What’s clear is that the two disagree about nearly every detail from Mexico City. Smith says that he suggested to Carlos that they raise their fists, noting that his first wife, Denise, had the gloves in Mexico City”.

Smith says”

“It was a cry for freedom and for human rights,” Smith says. “We had to be seen because we couldn’t be heard.”

To read more go to the following links:

Tribute to John Carlos and Tommie Smith

Fun Friday…More Tommie Smith Shoes

Do Youth Athletes Know Their Track History? 1968

40 Years Ago Today: Why the Smith and Carlos Legacy Lingers

Tommie Smith: ‘Hate was so entrenched in America, and it took lives’

Interesting Fact : Smith gave Usain Bolt one of his running shoes as a birthday gift.