During the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, John Carlos took action and stood for something that shook the world. Carlos action during his podium moment in 1968 was an act of years of fighting racism and being oppressed. Carlos fist salute was a symbolic gesture of the civil rights movement and black power; however, despite his notable action, he did not care of the ramifications because he stood for something that was necessary for justice, democracy and solidarity. Carlos lived in Harlem, New York, and his struggles as a child from segregation, poverty, and racism always played a role into his adulthood; furthermore, Carlos act was bigger than his medal; his Fist of Freedom was an act of racial tension, inequality, and solidarity an
In the book of The John Carlos story by John Carlos and Dave Zirin, John Carlos was a man of resistance and action. Carlos took a simple idea and took action in the 1968 Olympics that shock the entire world along with the civil rights movement. This book connected with me very well because Carlos ran away from danger since he was bullied and pushed as an outcast when he was a child. Personally, I was bullied, beaten and always felt as an outcast. I tried countless times to be liked and earning that validation from others, but the torment of abandonment was always there. Like Carlos, I ran from away my bullies because that was my only self-defensive mechanism; I was too afraid to stand up for myself, hence without realizing its track and the field was my outlet. I escape from all my problems, sorrows and everything else that came along with it; as Carlos describes it, “Running is what you did to get away from your bullies or the police (The John Carlos story, Pg. 11). Despite the adversity that I faced, I did not give into the fears of my bullies and I always kept fighting to become better.
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The USA was an encompassment of slavery, As Carlos writes, “The united states is not like you might think it is for blacks and other people of color. Just because we have ‘USA’ on our chest does not mean everything is peachy keen” (Pg.,112). What Carlos was remarking are the everlasting crimes the USA has done and the increase of racial tension between the multiple dimension minority and the majority. The ‘USA’ did not represent what they stood for; the killings, the lynching and the discrimination against blacks. What Carlos is representing was not just for what he was going through but for all the generations of mistreatment of people. As Carlos said, “walk in my shoes and see if you smile…. how we built this country from the sweat of our brows and arches of our backs, and then, in turn, we were always second- class citizens” (Pg.,112). The simple notion of the years of being inferior, tortured and enslaved by the whites to build this country so that whites can enjoy, and the people of color being second-class citizens. As Carlos continues, the political view of the Olympic committee was not about who won a gold medal, merely, it was about political justice, stature and representation of this country; the bleed shed and hatred that people went through; that is why the demonstration of “fist of freedom” was fully felt, necessary and understood. The movement of the salute was a symbolic notion of what they stood for was for black solidarity, the ‘defiance, strength and unity’ of the oppression. As Dr. King said, “I have to go back and stand for those that won’t stand for themselves, and I have to go back for those that can’t stand for themselves” (The John Carlos Story, Pg., 82). The fist of freedom was protesting the civil rights movement and solidarity, the shoes represented for the poverty in America and the Beads stood for the indescribable lynching that swept this nation. The words of Dr. king stuck with him, “who couldn’t or wouldn’t stand for themselves” that is why he did it. Hence the radical political statement was the relationship between the United States and the justification of their years of being oppressed.
As Carlos describes, “Man, what are you talking about ain’t sports. It’s life! Who cares if you go through life without a medal” (Carlos, Pg. 90-91)? What Carlos is displaying is effective reasoning because he is correct that is not about just the sport or medal. He demands justice, respect and the same amount of dignity like every Olympic athlete on or off the field. Carlos admits that a medal is stupid but in order to protest he had to get on to the podium and establish how long it took to fight for justice. Although Carlos knew that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was going to do everything in their power to remove him and/ or others if there was any engagement of protest by the athletes themselves. Despite his thoughts of protesting, Carlos had the right to be there since “they needed us, they hated us, and they feared us all at the same time” (Carlos, Pg. 104). Even the IAAF (International Association of Athletes Federation) step in and try to disqualify Carlos and Smith on a technicality from Olympic trials, however, they did not find any significant reasoning to do so. What Carlos was demonstrating is that sports taught him patience. As his friend, Terry Barnett taught him fighting for social justice is not just a race or sprint, it is a marathon; it is a marathon that can change the history forever. Hence, it is not about sports. It is life. A medal can be won, but justice is not something you just win in a race, it is won through countless fighting by pushing the boundaries and paving the way as a form of resistance.
Carlos writes, “We had stature, and this made us dangerous. The united states Olympic committee feared what we would do, and I heard later that they were trying to figure out how to weed us out” (Pg., 104). Carlos was feared because he did have a reputation. The IOC was afraid since Carlos was recognized in track during his education at East Texas State; He was a man of demeanor; his outlandish remarks and outburst on and off the field, and his undoubted gift of speed and that is why he was dangerous. To simply place it, if he made it to trials then the Committee would do everything in their power to remove him. The level of respect Carlos would have created would be powerful and would an epic controversial topic that would rock the foundation of the 20th century. Despite the IOC, Carlos would still display the most controversial salute and defy the committee since boycotting is not allowed. This gesture of the “fist of freedom” was not a representation of what he was going living through at the time but a pure distinction of what black man was going through (Carlos, Pg.1). As Carlos claims, the “critical is the understanding that sports can also be a place of inspiration that doesn’t transcend the political but becomes political, a place where we see our dreams and aspirations played out in dynamic technicolor” (Pg., xxi) Carlos is displaying “politics” to stand for something that matters to him; I believe what Carlos is trying to say that Americans are afraid to face the unapologetic truth of what history instills and the struggles people of color go through and feel invalid as human-beings. He continues, “Politics can seem remote and alien to the vast majority of people. But the playing field is where we can project our every thought, fear and hope” (Pg, xxi). This projection of thought, fear and hope is a reminder that adversity and alienation and for people of color had to face because they are no less of a person than someone who is representing the hierarchy of the social latter. This is a fight for recognition enacted by John Carlos and Tommie Smith in 1968 signal freedom for black people.
Throughout the course, I have noticed that the fight for equality, justice and the act of supremacy. The simple injustice was purely created by the white man which validates the creation of replication of our past history. For example, the British colonials attacked overtook their lands and replicated ingenious people to become the modern man. I felt deeply connected with The John Carlos Story because it gauges what took place 50 years ago is a similar if not exact views of ethnocentrism today. In relationship to Carlos, Carlos is heading back to the tunnel after the ceremony awards, a white man shouts out, “Pejorative words” to Carlos to validate his superior dominance; In great disbelief Americans have turned their cheek away from a man of color who won a medal for his country and showed him nothing but animosity and inequality (Carlos, Pg., 121). However, despite the thousands of fans in disgust, Carlos is a man of power, action, and patience; therefore, his stand was an act of anger and frustration of being put down. His resistance of superiority deemed to take action by shaking the social ladder of inferiority. Similarly, the resistance of the Australians undermining the British at their own game by beating them, recreating the game of rugby by their rules and creating a new game of rugby, Aussie rules Football. Moreover, “the white male power so was embraced as an athlete’s norm that the credibility of black athletes was questioned” (Not Just A Game., 2019). Hence, the fundamental basis of ethnocentrism is to center one race and construct others as inferior, but men like Malcolm X, Dr. King, Jack Johnson, and Mohammad Ali were courageous enough to challenge racism and used their talents to bring politics into sports. By challenging racism, the minorities were protesting and fighting for equality to break the cycle of injustice and because of this approach, athlete like Jack Johnson was a “symbol of black masculinity and was a direct threat to white people inside and outside of the ring, which paved the contribution for future athletes to take a stand”( Not Just A Game, 2019). Consequently, Mohammed Ali used boxing to fight justice, racism, hate crimes, and poverty by spreading the truth to the world and stood up for what was right regardless losing his title, sponsorship and millions of dollars. Ali is a global ionic and embraced his surroundings and fought hard to protect his values no matter the ramifications are. Just like Tommie Smith and Carlos, they stood up for something that is for the greater good and for justice. And as Carlos states, “Every time their hand touches the ladder, they put they’re on it and do not want us to climb up” (Not Just A Game, 2019). Therefore, the legacy of Tommie Smith and John Carlos continues in the exercise of Kolin Capernick ‘taking a knee’ when the National Anthem is playing which signifies the past struggles of Black Americans 48 years ago.
Within my personal history of track and field, I found that during my time on the field there have been many occasions of people of color wearing long colorful socks in the triple and long jump events. This action, to my knowledge, was not an act of protest, but after reading The John Carlos Story I can strongly say they may have at the time protesting against a set of rules.
Furthermore, the transparency of color, human rights, social justice, and racism has been a battle for years. Within today’s society, “Black lives matter” because we can recognize that this movement against social inequality, racism, and violence is ongoing. If we look at the relationship of John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and other social activists, we can see that there is a fighting battle of being equal. All in all, I recommend this book because it underlines the causes of the component of slavery through years of bled shed, reshaping the future generations by protesting and demonstrating momentous acts of resilience.
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