When Men Cannot Be Men

When Black Athletes Demonstrate Principled Manhood

As long as black athletes are winning on the field or the court, they are no threat to white supremacy. When black athletes demonstrate that they are principled and passionate men who care about the equal treatment of their people, they are demonized and punished.

Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during the playing of the anthem at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. For this non-violent protest, they paid a huge price.

Gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos were suspended from the U.S. Olympic team, stripped of their medals, and subjected to death threats for years. The raising of the fists took precedence over their courageous and principled act demonstrating against the racial discrimination of black people in the United States.

The reason for the fist-raising was lost in condemnation of the athletes; even after their winning medals for the United States in their servant/entertainer roles in the Olympics, they were denied the right to express their black manhood in protest of the conditions under which other blacks were forced to live.