Profile - Recognition for Tommie Smith,
John Carlos and the Olympic Project for Human Rights
Ken Noel
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The author thanks Gene Zubrinsky of Ojai, Calif.,
for editorial assistance.
The Olympic Project for Human Rights (O.P.H.R.), a movement for social
equality and human rights, arose out of black student activism at San
Jose State College in 1967. Within its short history as an active organization
(1967–1968), the O.P.H.R. significantly impacted the prevailing,
naive view of sport as detached from politics—a bastion of brotherhood,
social harmony and understanding, where what counts is not the color
of one’s skin but only how well one plays the game. In orchestrating
black athletes’ well-publicized protests against social injustice,
the O.P.H.R. was an integral part of the mid-twentieth-century struggle
for human rights. Goals such as “[c]urtailment of participation
of all-white teams and individuals from the apartheid Union of South
Africa and Southern Rhodesia in all United States and Olympic events”
were paramount (Edwards, 1969, pp. 58–59).
O.P.H.R. veterans have followed with interest two recent projects with
sport-and-politics themes that could rekindle efforts to promote human
rights by exploiting that connection.
One is a project at San Jose State University involving the erection
of a statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos of the O.P.H.R., with raised
gloved fists, on the victory stand at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
The other is the History San José organization’s “Speed
City: Roots and Legacy” project, an outgrowth of the scholarship
and dedication of doctoral candidate Urla Hill. Both recall significant
organizations, activities and events at San Jose State that connect
sport and politics. These efforts to promote social reform on a national
and international level are important in the history of San Jose State
University and the City of San Jose.
There is little disagreement that the Smith–Carlos victory-stand
salute highlighted for the world the importance of taking a stand against
social injustice. San Jose State University and the City of San Jose’s
honoring of these athletes’ courage and sacrifice helps revive
interest in a global problem, in part by giving these men new opportunities
to publicly reiterate O.P.H.R. themes. (The organization’s philosophy
and goals are expressed in the concluding statement of the 1968 National
Conference on Black Power, in Philadelphia [see Edwards, 1969, pp. 179–180].)
While not as widely publicized as the statue honoring Smith and Carlos,
the “Speed City: Roots and Legacy” project is having the
same effect in bringing renewed attention to them, among others, and
to the Olympic Project for Human Rights. The name Speed City derives
from the high concentration of world-class black sprinters in San Jose
in the mid-1960s, many but not all of whom ran for San Jose State. They
are said to have been drawn there by the college’s long and rich
history of cultivating top, mostly black, sprinters. At a presentation
of “Speed City” sponsored by Barnes & Noble Booksellers
and History San José (attended and videotaped by the author)
the panelists spoke of pioneering the rise of judo as an Olympic sport
and breakthroughs in sprinting that led to world records. Eloquently
explaining the trials and tribulations of surviving in the face of widespread
racial discrimination, they won nods of agreement and empathy from the
audience. Over all, the large and receptive audience seemed old enough
to have attended college during the era of student protests. Their comments
implied they saw the black student movement of 1967–1968 clearly
and understood the flow of events, for the first time.
Later this year, an exhibit entitled “Speed City: From Civil Rights
to Black Power” is scheduled for presentation at the History San
José facility. It is a collection of sports memorabilia and information
contributed by coaches, athletes and the university. Plans for the collection
to tour the country include various athletes presenting the history
and promoting education, equality and the struggle for human rights.
Much work lies ahead for all who are willing. Projects like the Smith–Carlos
statue and “Speed City: Roots and Legacy” are timely developments
that may help sensitize us to the persistence of social inequality and
reignite the struggle against it. This discussion and the projects mentioned
herein signal opportunities of joining together for common goals. Leading
up to the 2008 Olympic Games and the 40th anniversary of the victory-stand
demonstration, it is high time for collaborating with those who are
committed to making the most of the current interest in the connection
of sport and politics on a national and international level.
References
Edwards, H. (1969). The revolt of the Black
athlete. New York, NY: Free Press.

http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5
Profile -
Recognition for Tommie Smith,
John Carlos and the Olympic Project for Human Rights
Ken Noel
|