By Chris Estrada – Staff Writer
Standing atop the winner’s podium, Tommie Smith wasn’t thinking about himself after achieving his lifelong dream, but rather those back home still suffering from systemic injustices.
“When I won that gold medal, it wasn’t just mine. It was for all of black America,” he said.
Two men stood on the podium after receiving their medals for winning the 200-meter race. As the “Star-Spangled Banner” played, the athletes wore a single black glove and raised their fists in the air as they bowed their heads.
Gold-medal winner Smith and bronze-medal winner John Carlos represented the United States in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
These young African American men decided to make a statement and salute for human rights. The action brought awareness to what people of color were facing during this time.
In a recent interview with San Jose State’s the Spartan Daily, Smith acknowledged that to him, the salute meant more than what it was assumed to be.
“I don’t view that as a Black Power stand. It was a human rights issue,” he said. “I can understand why people call it a Black Power salute, but mine was a cry for freedom.”
Smith was born in Texas in 1944 and moved to California during his high school years, where he was a three-sport athlete playing basketball, football and track and field.
When he enrolled in SJSU, he focused on track and field where he would become a star, breaking records before competing in the Olympics. Carlos spent his early childhood in Harlem, NY. Before joining SJSU, he spent a year at East Texas State University where he was the school’s first track and field Lone Star Conference champion.
When he joined SJSU, he met Dr. Harry Edwards, who formed the Olympics Project for Human Rights. The idea of the organization was to boycott the 1968 Olympics.
“We actually planned to do the boycott and when it was called off, we felt we needed to make a statement to let them know that things are still not right,” Carlos said in an interview with NPR News in 2011. “Before we actually did the final race, Tommie and I got together and decided that we wanted to do something.”
After the incident did in fact happen, the International Olympic Committee had ordered Carlos and Smith to leave Mexico City and stripped them of their medals.
The Spartan Daily reported that the reason for the expulsion was what The U.S. Olympic Committee called “untypical exhibitionism.”
Upon their return home, Smith and Carlos were faced with negativity.
“I found it disheartening because I expected more,” Smith told the Spartan Daily.
Expelled from the Olympic team, these young men, ages 23 and 24, were faced with criticism. Still, that did not stop them from speaking their minds.
On October 22, 1968, SJSU held a “welcome home” rally for the two athletes. Both men spoke in front of 1,500 students and shared their stories.
Two days later, the Spartan Daily featured a letter from SJSU President Robert D. Clark, congratulating the achievements of Smith and Carlos.
Clark voiced regret that more should have been done by the university on the issue with what African Americans faced at home.
In the aftermath, both men tried to go about their lives. They both played in the National Football League for a short time, Smith with the Cincinnati Bengals and Carlos with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Smith went back to college and got his degree before getting hired as a coach at Oberlin College in 1972. He stayed there for six years before spending the next 27 years as a professor at Santa Monica Community College.
Carlos competed one more season at San Jose State in 1969. After he struggled to find work, he became a counselor and was hired to be the track and field coach for a high school in Palm Springs.
In 2005, the university honored Smith and Carlos with a statue of their infamous salute. The former athletes still hold SJSU close to their hearts to this very day.
“I am very proud to call myself a Spartan,” Smith told the Spartan Daily.
Looking back 50 years, with all that these two brave young men endured throughout their lives, Carlos was asked in an interview with Sports Illustrated if he would do it again.
“Would I do it again? Absolutely!” he said.
Follow Chris on Twitter @estradadotc