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 News from Around the Americas | February 2008 
The 'Black Power' Protest Which Shook the World
 Janelle Oswald - The Voice
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| | FISTS OF FURY: Tommie Smith and John Carlos make that famous protest | | |
Four decades ago, athlete Tommie Smith became a part of Olympic history’s most memorable moments.
But he is not remembered for his gold medal in the 200-meter dash at the 1968 Olympics, but for that iconic moment when he and bronze medalist John Carlos, raised their black gloved fists in a display of ‘black power.’
It was a split second that defined the revolutionary spirit and defiance of a generation. Now on the 40th anniversary of that event, The Voice talked with Smith about the moment that defined the ‘68 games and was ultimately to destroy his athletic career.
Following the deaths of over 300 Mexican students who were against the Olympics in favour of a revolution and five days into the XIXth Olympics in Mexico City - a pair of track stars – two of the fastest sprinters in the world stood in a tunnel in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario stadium. They were waiting for the medal ceremony to begin on Wednesday, October 16th 1968.
With millions of eyes watching, their actions changed history and their lives forever.
“Believe it or not I was scared,” explained Smith now aged 64. “My whole life flashed in my face and I kept thinking: ‘I’m a dead man, I need to get the hell out of here’. The only way that I kept my composure was through prayer.”
The two men approached the victory stand along with Peter Norman, the Australian silver medallist who joined their political stance. The three men wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges as a show of solidarity.
With the seconds ticking before the handover of their winning medals, 24-year-old Smith took of his shoes to symbolise poverty and donned a black glove on his right hand. 23 year-old Carlos wore his glove on the left and as symbolically took off his shoes
As the American national anthem began to play, Smith and Carlos bowed their heads. Their gloved fists rose high in the air as an estimated audience of four hundred million people worldwide looked on.
Since then millions more have seen that image, and it remains a powerful and indelible statement of black pride and courage.
Remembering the moment as if it was yesterday, Smith told The Voice that his decision to raise his fist and not wear his shoes was done in order to have a “crack at freedom.”
Wanting to speak out about the social and racial injustices within America and other ‘social atrocities’ around the world such as South Africa and Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe), Smith explained: “John and I did what many people did in their minds, which was to speak out about social and racial injustice.”
“The world in 1968 was not a good place especially in sport and especially if you were black. Black athletes were treated like scum despite winning all the medals for our so-called country. Racism was on a high and we were all expected to put up and shut up but I could no longer hold my emotions inside. I had to communicate to the world how I felt and I took the first opportunity that knocked.”
“We were told that our actions demeaned the flag. Well that’s a lie. That’s my flag…that’s the American flag and I’m an American. But I could not salute it in the accepted manner, because it did not represent me fully - only to the extent of asking me to be great on the track then obliging me to come home and be just another nigger,” said Smith.
Penning a letter a few weeks prior to the games, Smith wrote to legendary track and field star Jesse Owens. At the 1936 Berlin, Owens won four gold models and angered Adolf Hitler who had planned to show the world the racial superiority of his Aryan super athletes.
“I wrote Jesse just before his death to let him know how much I admired him and to let him know that I thought he was the greatest athlete of all time not just for winning but because he never made the big dogs in the Olympic committee - who were all Jim Crow – put him down as a black man.”
The father of five (his first born, Kevin Tommie Smith, making headline news in track and field competing along side Mark Powell) - revealed to The Voice that he never imagined in a million years that his actions on the podium would have had such a profound effect on his life.
“My life post the 1968 Olympics was on constant review for what I did in Mexico. The ridicule was great but it was deeper than just us, as it affected all our kids, our citizen brothers and our parents. I was told that I could never compete again.”
“My mother died of a heart attack due to the pressure. She was sent manure and dead rats in the mail because of me. My brothers in high school were kicked off the football team and their scholarships were taken away.”
Carlos had a very tough time after the protest. He found it difficult to find work and at one time worked as a security guard. In an interviews with the Los Angeles he confessed:"My first wife is deceased as a result. She took her life because she couldn't deal with the pressure from the results of Mexico."
The Associated Press called their gesture a ‘Nazi-like’ salute and the sports columnist Brent Musburger called them “black skinned storm troopers”. Both Smith and Carlos came home to extensive derision, death threats, unemployment and doors slammed in their faces. Despite lasting just a few minutes, their fists in the air burned into the consciousness of every person who saw it.
Peter Norman, the Australian silver medallist on the podium, was also shunned when he returned home as he had supported the stand made by Carlos and Smith.
Now referred to as Dr. Smith, he is the only man in track and field history to hold eleven world records simultaneously.
Posing the question, whether he felt times have changed in terms of social and racial justice, Smith who is actively engaged in public speaking, answered: “No. Things have certainly improved since 1968 but people have perished in different ways.”
“ A hundred years ago black people could not go into their master’s house and now it looks like there could be one in the White House. Nevertheless as long as there is life there will be a need to continually fight the ills of ignorance.”
A strong Christian, Smith keeps up his fitness regime by running daily up Stone Mountain in Atlanta where he resides with his third wife, Delois.
In 2005, a statue showing Carlos and Smith on the medal stand was constructed by political artist Rigo 23 and dedicated on the campus of San Jose State University.
Continuing to speak on the changes in sport, Smith states: “Athletes like myself, John Carlos, Bob Beamon and plenty others have helped modern day athletes today because we paved the way for equality but the social fight must still go on.”
“There is more to being an athlete then just participating in sport. Many argue that an athlete should just play and not be heard but we all have a collectively responsibility to assist and advocate whenever we can help and highlight human injustice.”
Applauded by some, jeered by others, and ignored by many more, Smith made a commitment to dedicate his life, to champion the cause of African Americans sociologically, educationally, and spiritually. To this day, since his “stand for victory”, Smith remains as committed and as dedicated to his principles and trains young, up-and-coming athletes at his multiple academies.
Anticipating the fast approaching XXIXth Olympics of this year, which will be held in Beijing, China, Smith tells The Voice: “The games in Beijing will be the most exciting games I will have watched due to all the social issues surrounding the games such as steroid and the democratic moves of China and what they are becoming apart of.”
“The games are going to be very politically motivated and it is going to be exciting watching the change of the globe because of where the games are.” |
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