Sport, Politics and the Olympics

The image that really struck me involved the American man saluting at the Olympics and the German man holding his hand out representing Germany from the reading. This carries a certain weight but what I found more impactful was the picture from the 1968 Olympics, two black males holding up the black power fist. The difference I saw in 1986 was there was a fight for natural human rights and not national patriotism.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos were competing in the 200 meter dash during the 1968 summer Olympics. Tommie Smith came in first place winning the gold and John Carlos came in third winning the bronze. The two “Stood on the podium wearing black socks without shoes to symbolize black poverty in the U.S. Carlos wore a strand of colorful bead to protest lynching… the star spangled banner played, and [they] raised their first—clad in black leather gloves.”(Robin Amer) In this time period slavery had been abolished for some while but the rights of black people were lacking as well as the treatment of them. Racism was strong with people who were racist and with people who did mean to be. This outreach sent a message to the world saying that the fight for equality is not over.

I found that Eitzen and Sage’s political use of “sport as a vehicle of change in society” was used here. As I looked for a matching political use of sport I found this one that mentions this exact event. In an in an article I read about the event by Gary Younge he mentions a story Carlos told about how “As a teenager, he used to chase Malcolm X down the street after his speeches and fired questions at him.”(Younge) Now as a young adult having the spot light of the world, he had his chance to make an impact and fight as his idols did before him.

Through my years of living in this world it is very rare to hear the voice of the common person. We usually hear debates between Politicians and educated people, who have had their mind washed through the system at times. It is only the voices of the important people that we hear in the world. Sports does something different though, it gives an athlete the spot light, and it makes the athlete an important person in the world. The athlete who is a regular person in politics now gets the chance to speak his mind and I don’t think that is politically influencing sports that bad. The part where the statement “Sport is pure and devoid of political interference” gets messed up because the athletes voice now gets bought out to represent or say anything that people want them to say since the spot light is on them. I do not think the sports and politics are a separate in modern times.

Amer, Robin. "WBEZ 91.5 Chicago." Revisiting the Black Power Salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Summer Olympics, 28 July 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. <http://www.wbez.org/series/dynamic-range/1968-black-power-salute-iconic-olympic-moment-revisited-101270>.

Younge, Gary. "The Man Who Raised a Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympic Games." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 31 Mar. 2012. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/30/black-power-salute-1968-olympics>.