1968 Summer Olympics, Black Power Salute
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- An Inspiring Act of Bravery. Willing to sacrifice ALL for justice. Tommie Smith, Dr. John Carlos & Peter Norman. "We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference." --Nelson Mandela
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It was expected that Americans would dominate the track at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Indeed, when the men's 200-meter began, American Tommie Smith led the pack, sprinting ahead to take gold. Heading into the home stretch, it looked as if teammate and world-record holder John Carlos would win silver, but Australian Peter Norman edged him out, bounding down the straightaway to take silver and leaving Carlos with bronze. But it's what happened next that would make history.
Smith and Carlos stood on the podium wearing black socks without shoes to symbolize black poverty in the U.S. Carlos wore a strand of colorful beads to protest lynching. They bowed their heads as The Star Spangled Banner played, and raised their fists - clad in black leather gloves - in salutes to Black Power and unity. It was a gesture seen around the world, and an enduring symbol of political resistance.
Winning the 200 meter, John Carlos accepted the Bronze medal at the Olympic podium wearing black socks and no shoes to represent impoverished people who had no shoes of their own, and raised a black-gloved fist crowning a bowed head to humbly reflect the strength of the human spirit. Headlines were made around the globe and the photograph of the three medalists standing peaceably in protest at the ceremonial podium instantaneously became a historical symbol of the fight for human rights.
"We owe it to our Ancestors and to the sacrifices that they made, to continue to achieve higher goals, while maintaining our identity. Stand Up! Stand OUT!"
This fleeting moment, though, came out of the deep-rooted struggle for racial equality gripping America. Smith and Carlos had been part of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which, founded in 1967, had originally called upon black athletes to boycott the Summer Games.
The movement's mission statement asked, "Why should we run in Mexico only to crawl home?" Ultimately the group decided against the boycott, but Smith and Carlos embodied their message of protest. Australian Peter Norman wore an OPHR patch on his jacket during the ceremony as a symbol of solidarity.
"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." --Nelson Mandela
In a 2008 op-ed for the L.A. Times, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had been asked to try out for the '68 Olympic basketball team, described what watching that moment meant. "Whites were outraged, blacks felt some rush of pride," he wrote.
Carlos, who would go on to equal the world record in the 100-meter, win an NCAA championship title and even play a short stint in the NFL, spoke in Chicago this year. Speaking to an audience of young poets and activists, he said that now, when asked by photographers to raise his fist for the camera, he instead instructs them to find a young person to photograph. "Let some young man or woman raise their fist," he said. "I want them to see that we've moved on to the next generation."
DR. JOHN CARLOS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
ow.ly/lqWDl
I just can't understand people who say it was the wrong place to do it. When sporting events become more important than basic human rights then the world is truly lost!
Well said Steven Ward. Thank you for your comment
The problem is if you allow one type of "protest" then you have to allow all of them to be fair. Why not allow Tibetan athletes to protest the Chinese state?
The issue with THAT is when there are two rival groups of claimants [e.g. Japan & South Korea] making protests about things where there is no clear group we should root for. Should we allow it? It is effectively two different groups going at each other's throats, but it's only fair for us to allow them to protest, right?
It's also easy to "root" for stuff YOU personally don't care about or that you agree with. What happens when you don't? What about if Texan athletes decide to fly the Confederate Flag at their victory podium? Or if a group of Muslim athletes from various countries hold banners or symbols that represent anti-Americanism or slogans that are against American "imperialism"? Bet you there'd be uproar.
It is the wrong place, that is not what the games were invented for. However, it happens.
+Mav F you sir are a dumbass
Arpit Agarwal - No, I am not. The Olympics was not invented to make political statements at. Doesnt matter anyhow it has happen and it will continue to happen. I guess I am old school when it comes to respect people doesnt matter who they are or where they are from.
Peter Norman paid a pretty big price, too. He was left off the 72 team. Despite still holding the 200m record in Australia, Norman wasn't allowed to participate in the 2000 Olympics festivities in Australia.
bro are u alive
TIL Tommie Smith & John Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral in 2006.
u guys don't mention the other winner ,Peter Norman. give the man some respect too.the human rights badge he was wearing put him out of the Australian team for the following Olympics
It wasn't even his fight but he wanted to do the right thing and sacrificed his career. And Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at Norman's funeral. 3 of the most amazing men ever.
Its true...! I agree 100% with your message.
well said
Australia (his home country) screw Peter Norman worse. They can not erase him still being the fastest Australian track star in Australia history. He had a personal obligation because aborigines were being discriminated in Australia so being the Olympics he had a responsibility too for his country along with Smith and Carlos for USA. He always had my respect and I wasn't born in 1968
Sherin Cherian have u learnt the ncert? Political science?
Human rights are everyones fight.
I am so humbled to see in the comments, tributes not just to the righteous protest of the African American Olympians but to the white Australian Peter Norman. Im a Black Aussie (Aboriginal) yet the response by my country to a remarkable athlete and human being is disgusting. He paid a big price for his support of human equality. His race time in 1968, for the 200 meters event still stands as an Australia Record even today. The support from the US is a stark response to the one he got at home. He was banned for 2 years and even when he qualified for the Munich Olympics in 1972, he was not allowed to go. In Sydney, Australian Olympics 2000 he was not invited to walk with other historical Olympians nor was given recognition. The USA Track and Field Team invited him to walk with them.
It was only in 2012 that he was postumously given an official apology by the Australian Government. Six years after he died in 2006. In the United States, the national Track and Field Association declared October 9th Peter Norman Day.
As a New Zealander, a brother across the Tasman Sea, I am only too aware of our appalling treatment of the indigenous tribes of New Zealand, a.k.a. collectively as the Maori, by the British colonialists. However, what went on in New Zealand is a shadow of the utterly shocking treatment meted out to the Aboriginal people in the past, and continuing today, by white Australia. Jello Biafra, lead singer of US punk band "The Dead Kennedys" declared Queensland the most fascist place he had visited when the band toured in the early 80s - some statement, as apartheid still existed in S. Africa. Peter Norman was a rare thing, a human of immense courage standing up against - and let's call it for what it was under official Australian govt policy - the state-sponsored genocide of the Aboriginal people. RIP Peter Norman.
Black men that took a god damn stand!
We need people like them TODAY!
BTW. There were in fact three protesters on that podium. Peter Norman was against the australian "White Australia Policy" and for that and for his solidarity in 1968 he was not nominated for the olympics in 1972.
He also wore a black badge of support in the race and on the podium of the two making the protest that day with his silver medal
I'd love to meet these fellas and shake their hands.
It was just the right thing to do at the right time for the right reasons! I applaud them!
I remember this happening , I was 7 years old at the time
Ditto
Brilliant commentary! These men were/are among the most courageous, selfless, and superb athletes of the 20th century. Accolades to that fantastic Australian sprinter, Peter Norman, for his timely coordination and support. RIP
Wow....John Carlos testimony really touched me. Thanks for standing up for civil rights guys. Very brave of you.
Thanks for uploading this. I ve been using it as an English language teaching resource for Spanish teenagers with a worksheet I designed myself. Its great for getting kids to think about what they might do to change things for the better and, well, what more can I say? Tommie Smith and John Carlos continue to offer inspiration 46 years on...my teenagers are riveted when they watch this.
Respect to them damn. "Why did you do it?
You cant eat fame. You cant eat a gold medal."
We studied this video in English class :)
Standard
Peter Norman had a heck of a kick. He was 4-5 yards behind with 25 yards left.
Peter Norman is not usally realized that he was wearing a human rights pin, for a fight he was not effected by, something he did not even have to do, but he did it anyway
Thankyou someone finally sees the Aussie guy did something amazing too in fact the two Americans were told not to go forward and do it but the Aussie secound place winner was the one that basically wanted to go forward he gave them the gloves wore the pin and he was never aloud to compete in another olympics and when he was told to be able to walk in the open ceremony for the Sydney 2000 as long as he apolgized he said no and he died soon after and the two people that carried his coffen were the to American males another amazing thing the Australian guy holds an Australian Olympic record and it hasn't been broken since 1968
Ellie McLaren who knows how many more records he could've smashed if he was allowed to participate.People had a fucked mind back then,as a matter of fact,some still do.
I just spent the day with Dr. Tommie Smith. Oh what a man he is. I was in the presence of greatness! Never forget.
WOW! What a privilege!
We need to support these guy's financially. All these guys need support for sticking up for us. We can't just forget about them money wise
One of the great moments in American protest history.......individual freedom and protest against war
Certainly a great [remarkable] moment in history.
But it wasn't a protest about war. The symbol represents black power and emancipation.
And the courage of Peter Norman should be duly noted . . .
Considering his Olympic career ended as a result as well, I should say so.
Carlos and Smith told him they were protesting at the awards ceremony -- Norman wore a badge in support of the Olympic Project for Human Rights during the medals ceremony. Both Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at Norman's funeral.
The black gloves were Norman's idea,lets not forget that
+Андрей За́йцев Yeah, not many know that. They only had one pair. That is why Smith is rising his right and Carlos his left.
Any place is appropriate to show injustice. The whole world should know what had been happening with blacks in the past and it's still not ending.
The past is the past. Black Americans should not indulge themselves in victim culture.
I was a boy then, from "white" Europe, but into jazz and the civil rights movement through literature and music. They were heroes for me back then, and still are. Thank you for that great gesture of equality and freedom.
i read about that in my history textbook and i was very moved by it..not only what they did was good but what the irony was that they weren't treated like heroes although they were.
i salute them ... truly amazing .... heroes
Go !Brothers and Sisters of this world unite for freedom,decency and democracy for ALL !
Tommie Smith & John Carlos did a great thing. They left their empty shoes on the corner of the podiums to represent the poor & hungry not being forgotten. I applaud them then & now
Avery Brundage is the worst and embarrassing person who ever presided over any Olympic Games. He was a bigot, sexist, homophobic,racist,elitist bastard. He has done a lot of negative things to the Olympics. As for Tommie Smith he did the right thing. Sticking up for something he believed in. The Czechoslovakian gymnast Vera Caslavska was also treated poorly for her defiance on the podium against the Russian Tanks in Prague that same year. So the Olympics tried ruin the careers and lives of any athlete who made "political" statements.
Nowadays the Olympics is so hypercommercialized and corporate and a big joke. I hadn't watched the Olympics for many many years because of it.
You are not to mess sport with politics. They got what they asked for.
When the reporter said "But you earned a gold medal"
and the Black dude said that he couldn't eat it and that his friends in the hood couldn't eat a gold medal.
I laughed then got a little sad when I thought about it.
I shall always remember this race as I had gotten out of the Fucking army alive 12/14/67 a draftee but I lost two of my friends from my track team Marty Farrell and James Michilini two of the sweetest human beings I ever met I was the Capt of the track team Msgr, McClancy Jackson Hts , n.y. they were 2 years behind my exit in 1962,.
What Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos did at the 1968 Olympics was nothing short of Courage and extreme fortitude. America in 1968 was a country steeped in racial discrimination . Black poverty was a glaring reality. The duo took an unprecedented stand against the injustices being meted to the black people. They suffered boycott and economic hardship but never regretted that fateful stand. I lived through that period in India. They have my deepest respect and admiration.
The kiddies should be here watching history instead of playing dumb video games.
I'll always remember this moment.
Well I'm 16 and I'm happy I know this now.
Im in my 20's and from europe but i still watched this AND played dumb video games later ;)
I am one of these kiddies. 14 years old to be exact. I actully LOVE learning history. But i see your point. History should really be learned in EVERY age group.
Ok, ok, Geen naam ;) Point taken. :)
tuscanlab kids that play video games also have to take history classes. what is different from the older generations? there games were sticks and boards. still "dumb games" in your opinion
Amazing moment. I spend half my time clicking on shit adverts\x's overlays to see what I want to watch!
Such talented and brave men. It’s a crime how they were treated. To me, they’re heroes, not traitors.
Respect from Tanzania.
The epitome of pride 🖤
HEROES
Amen
Black History, Sports History, and American History heroes all.
Qui est la grâce au cours d'anglais ??
Expressions of Hope: The Mel Pender Story by Melvin Pender and Debbie Pender. He is a black man from Atlanta who won a gold medal for sprinting. Vietnam Vet.
wow WOW AMERICA
Hera you see heroes! Keepers of human liberty!
Pissed me off then. Same today. Feel the same way about the girls soccer team.
stayy pissed,but i dont support women football tho
Salute to the heroes of usa
ONE OF MY IDOLS
Whoever is studying democracy and diversity hit me a like
A song about Peter Norman and 'The Salute'
I'll Stand With You - Week 11
Respect to all the citizens
I'm not black but I think they did that out of self satisfaction, there's nothing wrong in that.
The Civil Rights act was already the law of the land. And the United States gave these men the opportunity to be world class, Olympic athletes. And they decided to be malcontents and protest the country that they should have loved.
Bonne chance à tous les staps force à vous mdr
Tommie gold medalist peter and john siver and bronze medalist
Peter Norman was the silver medalist in this race. He suffered perhaps most of all three heroes. He was kicked out of the next Olympic Games and was criticized for his act. He sacrificed his career for what he believed, and was mocked in his own Australian hometown. Smith, Carlos and Norman are truly some of the bravest humans in sports history.
The bronze medalists wife killed herself and his children were ridiculed in school. He also lost means of supporting his family. I don’t think the white man faired worst
Nothing was known of the role of Peter Norman especially in India
Social media has made a big difference. . Peter turns out to be a white man with a huge conscience. He was the silver medalist . His timing broke the Australian record which stands today. Today we know he was a willing participant. He wore the human rights badge at the ceremony. The moral stand he took was exceptional
He was barred from the '72 edition and offered s pardon if he denounced the Duo of Tom and Juan . The noble soul refused. That is greatness in the face of Australian prejudice . RIP
truly heroes
Awesome!!!
It wasn't civil rights they were protesting for, it was Black people's rights.
What are you talking about dumbass
Absolutely. The Black Power Fist is a symbol of black empowerment, not general downtrodden masses that the rest of these assholes are talking about.
***** He wasn't referring to the ''black power fist'' he was referring to the civil rights movement in general. The civil rights movement was certainly a a civil movement and empowered both Black people and woman. And to say it wasn't a civil movement is to say blacks and woman were not civilians
Ebeneezer stark The most funnily twisting argument ever → "And to say it wasn't a civil movement is to say blacks and woman were not civilians" •••
Hey, I've created a movement for the empowerment of people who are of Chinese descent. But make no mistake, it's a *human* movement. If you don't agree, you are fundamentally saying that Chinese people are not humans... you're not saying that, are you? LOL.
*You can't define the general as the specific*. A movement for a _particular_ category of people is just that; a movement for that _specific_ group of people.
The OP wrote: _It wasn't civil rights they were protesting for, it was Black people's rights._
Which is more-or-less correct. They used a black glove on the raised fist [Black Power Fist], they took off their shoes and wore black socks [Black Poverty symbol]. Yes, one of them unzipped his shirt as an act of solidarity for working class people, but the fact is, some of them just _happen_ to be white. The working class was disproportionately black, and it was black working class injustice they were protesting.
The whole symbolism was about *black empowerment*, not general civil rights, which applies to all races/ethnicities.
Do you know what the civil rights movement fought for?
Why are there still school buses without proper seat belts installed in this day and age?
It was good protest, both the US african American with Brazil and treated om citizen of second class. The the african-Americans not suprotava it, struggled to maximum and suffered descrinacao in his own country, as happened with Jesse Owens, in his own words. "It was Hitler who ignored me, who did it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt President not even sent me a telegram. "
GOD bless these MEN!!
The Olympics are to celebrate the human spirit and should be able to demonstrate that through demonstration.
What better place to bring attention to the hurt of Humanity than when the world is watching?
You forgot to mention Peter Norman, how he gave them the gloves, and stood with them during th eprotest. In australia Peter norman was shunned by his own government. He died in 2006 and 2 of the casket carrirs were Smith and Carlos. In 2012 AUstralia apologize to peter norman's memory.
Touch and go to do what they did. As the Olympics is a sports event to bring country's together for SPORT, BUT I can understand them doing it as the camera's will be on them and fair play to the lads they made there point and got exposure, plus they weren't racist as you can see they kept there head down when they did it , half knowing it was pushing it doing it at the Olympic's
Se que la clase de bachibac estáis viendo este vídeo ósea que mandar las respuestas por el grupo
Great history. I did appreciate the white guy who stood with them. If the world needs changes, someone has to be the sacrifice. These 3 men helped a lot
What a moment
AWESOME
John Carlos whose parents were Cubans and Tommie Smith are U.S.A. heroes
THANKS FOR YOUR GESTURE. HISTORY WAS MADE, STILL SO APPROPRIATE TODAY.
The nazis of the white olympics should have had not say over the absues they supported and perpetrated.
EPIC!
Yet still, no one even spoke for our students.
Heroes! All respect
Salute👏
Anyone from BKP
My people
They had a statement to make
Did they got the medals back?
And give that white man who placed 2nd some dam respect too!
Yahlexala Yasharala Ben Yisrael Ik this was a long ass time ago but look him up
Yahlexala Yasharala Ben Yisrael You're a fucking moron, dude.
✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾
fair play to em
It's weird hearing such an historically moving act narrated by a 14 year boy. Great footage though. Thanks!
is there an unedited clip of the fist raise?
I would like to cite this for some academic literature, what is the source of this video please?
Dr. John Carlos' Facebook
why did he raise one finer at the end ?
It's an islamic gesture. The nation of islam was popular among the black power and black panthers movement.
I wish blk ppl still had heart to be a MAN and fight represent stand up
Héroes.
Qui est là pour de l'anglais ?
c’est quoi le stade l’équipe svp
wich music is it at 1:22
Peter Norman ?
Wow I had no idea that they got in trouble for that, wow. Smh
I WISHD AM FINNISH TOMMIE SMITH
Kick out for supporting black power you know what
BLACK POWER✊🏾
.
tommie smith is a teacher?
*solidarity fist
What isn't mentioned, is that these two men repented, and redeemed themselves, from disgrace; to fine gentlemen. God loves the repenter; especially disgraceful men; like these two; who went on to become great men, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
It shouldnt be allowed . can you imagine what all those athletes from all different countries will say? they all represent diff values.
Pyro Master like Kap!!
How did the white man ran so fast to become second