An image for the ages
Thursday, May 26, 2005

IT REMAINS one of the most lasting images in the history of the Olympic Games -- two triumphant American athletes raising their gloved fists on the medal stand in Mexico City in a salute to black power. The gesture, which took place at the 1968 Olympics, was so controversial then that record- setting sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were banished from the games, and their symbolic protest resulted in death threats and attacks on their homes.

But time is a great equalizer. Thirty-seven years later, the two Olympic medal winners are going to be honored for their silent stance. On Saturday, Smith and Carlos will receive honorary doctorates at San Jose State University, their alma mater, and there will be a groundbreaking ceremony there Friday for a sculpture commemorating their legacy of promoting human rights.

Smith and Carlos had been involved in the civil-rights movement long before the Olympics, and they were part of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which sought to ban athletes from countries that practiced apartheid. But demonstrating on a world-wide stage was considered a shocking and militant act. One news report at the time referred to the raised gloves as a "Nazi-like salute'' and a well-known Chicago columnist likened them to "black-skinned storm troopers.'' Reaction among black Americans was quite different -- the two men were largely perceived as heroes.

The gesture elevated Smith and Carlos into the history books and persuaded other athletes to speak out against racism. History has shown that it often takes a single moment or challenge to highlight the battle for equality. Smith and Carlos proved that one iconic image can equal a thousand marches and, over time, help right the wrongs of the past.