1968 Olympics Black Power salute
Tommie Smith crossed the finish line in 19.83 seconds, a world record in the 200 meters. John Carlos took bronze. Both men were students at San Jose State College, both were Black, and both knew exactly what they were about to do. On the medal podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, they bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists toward the sky as the American national anthem played. Silver medalist Peter Norman of Australia stood with them in solidarity, wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on his jacket. The photograph of that moment became one of the most recognizable images of the twentieth century.
Speed City
San Jose State's track program in the late 1960s was nicknamed Speed City, and for good reason. Coach Bud Winter had assembled a team of sprinters who routinely shattered records. Smith and Carlos were the program's brightest stars, but the political atmosphere on campus was equally charged. The Olympic Project for Human Rights, organized by sociology professor Harry Edwards, had called for a boycott of the 1968 Games to protest racial inequality in the United States. Smith and Carlos ultimately decided to compete, but they planned to use the global stage of the Olympics to make a statement that no boycott could match.
The Gesture and Its Grammar
Every element of the protest was deliberate. Smith raised his right fist to represent Black power. Carlos raised his left to represent Black unity. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent Black pride. Both men wore black socks with no shoes to represent Black poverty in America. Each wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge. The raised fists were covered in black gloves, a detail often attributed to Carlos, who had forgotten his pair and borrowed Smith's left glove. Peter Norman, understanding what was about to happen, asked to wear an OPHR badge as well. The Australian sprinter's quiet solidarity would define the rest of his life.
Punishment and Legacy
The International Olympic Committee, under pressure from its president Avery Brundage, expelled Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Village and sent them home. Both men faced death threats upon their return to the United States. Their athletic careers were effectively over. Norman, too, paid a price: he was ostracized by Australian Olympic authorities and never selected for another Games despite qualifying times. Decades later, the protest was reappraised. In 2005, San Jose State unveiled a 22-foot statue of Smith and Carlos on campus, their fists raised in bronze. When Peter Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos served as pallbearers. The gesture that cost all three men their careers had become, with time, one of the defining acts of moral courage in the history of sport.
From the Air
The 1968 protest originated with athletes from San Jose State University, located at 37.34°N, 121.88°W. Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (KSJC) is approximately 3 miles northwest. The campus is visible from altitude as a large institutional complex in downtown San Jose. A 22-foot statue commemorating the protest stands on the campus.