Scarlett Siegel
November 19, 2018
Capstone 8
To begin the story of the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and its effect on the Civil Rights Movement and today's athletic protests the Black Panther Party must be brought up. The 1960’s were a very influential time period in American history. Protests were happening everyday, and many laws were changing for the better of all people. And most importantly, the idea of black power was being spread by the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California. The founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale created the Black Panthers for self-defense, and to essentially “Fight the Power.” They thought, if nobody was there to help them, they must help themselves. In addition to the Black Panther Party, there were people who pushed for equality of African-Americans. Martin Luther King Jr.,was a priest who was the face of the Civil Rights Movement. He was assassinated in April of 1968 before the protest had happened. He was a person that was for equality and love for all persons no matter the race, and was an influential part in the values shown at the protest. As well as King Jr., Robert Kennedy took part in the protests values. He wanted to help the African-American communities, and when he was running for president, he showed this very openly. He was about peace, and love for all colors of people, and that everyone should be connected in a way to each other. Peter Norman, an australian runner were Robert Kennedy's values being represented. Norman wore a badge for the “Olympic Project for Human Rights,” an organization set up a year previously opposed to racism in sport. He won silver, and on the podium, he stood there in support for Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Peter Norman did not care that Carlos and Smith were African-American, he was honored that he could take place in this event. He cared for all people, and he was proud of himself that he thought this way. Because of the 1968 Black Power Protest, more people started to realize that the world was changing. Love was growing, and people all over the globe were becoming aware of the Civil Rights Movement. Later on, people would take this protests values, and apply them to their own, realizing that silent protests can be more effective than violent riots. Which leads many people to believe the 1968 Black Power Salute at the Olympics made an impact on current athletic protests and the Civil Rights Movement.
The backgrounds of Tommie Smith and John Carlos led them to protest at this certain event, and to push themselves to the limit to get on the podium. They grew up on opposite coasts, but were very familiar with “separate but equal” being untrue and unfair. They both met at San Jose University, both very good runners. At college they witnessed discrimination, such as unequal housing guarantees. By the end of their college career, Carlos and Smith decided to come together to show the world what they could do. The protest showed For John Carlos, he just wanted to make a butterfly effect for society. He wanted this protest to push other protests to happen, and to slowly change the American and the world's perspective on African-Americans. Carlos’s dad once told him, “something good can be bad for you, but, it will help you in the end, like broccoli.” John Carlos kept this in his mind until the protest, when he said, “Yeah, I taste bad, you didn’t like the flavor or the way I presented myself, but in the long run, you found that it made you a lot healthier down the line.” Carlos knew that this protest was a necessary evil, and the only way that things could get better is with an action with a huge impact. For Tommie Smith, his feeling after the protest was announced when he explained “Getting on the victory stand, I had a heart feeling, but I didn’t have the words to prompt the necessity of revealing, verbally, what I felt,” but, as he looks back 50 years later, Smith now says “People didn’t believe that what I was saying was necessary, as far as equality is concerned. But now things are changing.”
Carlos and Smith’s protests values were clear to see on the podium, and they used the silent protest to their advantage in that moment. Carlos and Smith walked up on the podium without shoes on, to support people living in poverty, black and white. Their beads and scarves were worn to bring awareness to lynching in the south, and they wore African beads to remember the people that were tossed off the sides of boats during slave trade. The black gloves they wore were a key fashion statement of the Black Panthers, and their raised fist was a symbol of black power. John Carlos unzipped his jacket to show a black tank top that covered his USA shirt. This statement was to show that he thought America was getting nowhere with to freedom of all people. Instead of not showing up, they stood on the podium, in obvious deniance of their country. It was just them on that podium, fists raised, the clothes, and the U.S. national anthem playing in the backgrounds. All eyes on them, which is exactly what Carlos and Smith wanted to achieve for their protest.