This picture is undoubtedly one of the premier icons of the 20th century, at least here in the United States. I don't remember the event from when it happened -- at the time, the only sports thing I cared about was hoping the Mets could beat the Astros in the race for ninth place. However, I also can't remember not knowing that the men wearing the gloves are named Tommie Smith and John Carlos. As for the third man, I knew he was the silver medalist, but nothing apart from that.
Having skin of a tone that Procul Harum once wrote a whole song about, I have often stared at the third man in this picture. Usually, I have cringed on his behalf, wondering what I would have done in his place. I would have wanted to raise my fist in solidarity, but on the other hand, that would have felt like empty me-tooism. If you've ever heard Morgan Freeman say, "God save us from well-meaning white liberals," you know what I'm talking about. So, I have always read a little discomfort in his posture, a tension between I'm proud to be here at this historic moment and I can't believe how white I'm feeling right now … when is this going to be over?
Yeah, projection.
Hold on tight. It turns out I was wrong.
Thanks to Alastair, reporting in the Comments on another post, I have learned that the real story is both happier in the moment, and sadder over time.
That third man's name is Peter Norman. He came from Australia. His silver medal-winning time in this race still stands as the Australian record for the 200 meter dash. He strongly supported what Smith and Carlos were doing. He came up with the moment-saving suggestion, when it turned out that Carlos had forgotten his gloves, for Carlos to wear one of Smith's, which is why the two men are raising opposite hands. He wore the badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights on his uniform, while standing there on the podium. He would suffer consequences for this and other actions at the Olympics (linguistic irony coming), being blacklisted in his own country for most of the rest of his life.
Alastair also informed me of a movie called Salute that's come out recently. It's a documentary, made by Peter Norman's nephew, Matt. Sadly, the movie was not finished in time for Peter to see it. He died of a heart attack in 2006. Tommie Smith and John Carlos delivered eulogies and served as pallbearers at his funeral.
Thanks, Alastair. And good on you, Mr. Norman. Sorry it took me so long to find out about this.
Salute trailer | a good review | a good back story | Salute movie web site
Wikipedia entry for Peter Norman -- good links
5 comments:
By the way, the Morgan Freeman line is something I remember him saying during an interview on Fresh Air. He was discussing the heat he took for his role in Driving Miss Daisy. In my own defense, I never saw anything wrong with the movie; in fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is without a doubt the finest movie I have ever seen on an airplane, that's for damned sure.
So, I am happy to report that I was not one of the scolds to which he referred in this exact context. However, I sure did know what he was talking about in general, and I've never forgotten the moment or the line.
I remember that he was an Australian who was in sympathy (if not outright solidarity). Thanks for the full story.
I remember it all quite vividly (though I was also more concerned with the Dodgers beating the Giants). I also remember how a few days later, George Foreman became a bit of an icon for waving a little American flag after his gold medal winning performance in the ring.
Thanks for weighing in with your memories, old man.
;^)
Brendan, great post. I had no idea...
Thanks Brendan, but I should say that it was by following your link that I found out about him in the first place.
Not entirely related is the incident at the 2000 Olympics with Cathy Freeman carrying the aboriginal flag after her 400m win.
There's probably a blog post here somewhere, but lately I've been thinking about the relationship of the individual to their country, when the former is representing the latter at an elite level of sporting competition.
In short I think the prevailing attitude seems to be that because you (athlete) are representing us (country), you are obliged to keep your personal views to yourself, unless they are representative of the country as a whole.
I'm sure that's reasonable if you buy into the idea of athletes as representatives. Which I'm not sure I do.
But even if you do, there's no denying that Cathy Freeman was also clearly representing aboriginal Australia as well as the country as a whole. The point being that restricting an athlete's representation to just their country, excluding all other groups, seems pretty arbitary.
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