Tommie Smith

Tommie Smith (born June 6, 1944) is an African American former track & field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith won the 200-meter dash finals in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20 second barrier was broken. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium caused controversy at the time as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Early life and career
Tommie Smith began life quietly, born to Richard and Dora Smith on June 6, 1944, in Clarksville, Texas, the seventh of 12 children. Tommie Smith survived a life-threatening bout of pneumonia as an infant. Although born in Clarksville, Texas, Tommie began his incredible career in Lemoore, California, when as a fourth grade student he was asked to race against the fastest runner in the school - incidentally, his sister. He went on to become the only man in the history of track and field to hold eleven world records in athletics simultaneously. By the time he graduated from high school, he had been voted “Most Valuable Athlete” three years straight, in basketball, football, and track and field.

While attending Lemoore High School in Lemoore, California, Smith showed great potential, setting most of the school's track records, many of which remain. He won the 440 yard dash in the 1963 CIF California State Meet. His achievements won him a scholarship to San Jose State. On May 7, 1966 while he was at San Jose State, Smith set a world best of 19.5 seconds in the 200 metres straight, which he ran on a cinder track. That "world best" for 200 metres was finally beaten by Tyson Gay on May 16, 2010, just over 44 years later., though Smith still holds the best for the slightly longer 220 yard event. Since the IAAF has abandoned ratifying records for the event, Smith will retain the official record for the straightaway 200 metres/220 yards in perpetuity. Smith won the national collegiate 220-yard (201.17 m) title in 1967 before adding the AAU furlong (201.17m) crown as well. He traveled to Japan for the 1967 Summer Universiade and won the 200 m gold medal. He repeated as AAU 200 m champion in 1968 and made the Olympic team.

1968 Summer Olympics
At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, the men's 200m winners podium was the stage for arguably one of the most iconic moments of the 20th century. As people railed against Apartheid in South Africa and racial segregation in the United States, black American runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists to show solidarity with people fighting internationally for human rights. During what is usually referred to as the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute, the two athletes were booed and forced out of the Games by the president of the International Olympic Committee at the time, Avery Brundage. Carlos and Smith were hailed by most of the rest of the world as heroes. The third man on the podium, a white Australian named Peter Norman, was vilified by his home nation for wearing his Olympic Project for Human Rights badge in solidarity. As a member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) he originally advocated a boycott of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games unless four conditions were met: South Africa and Rhodesia uninvited from the Olympics, the restoration of Muhammad Ali’s world heavyweight boxing title, Avery Brundage to step down as president of the IOC, and the hiring of more African-American assistant coaches. As the boycott failed to achieve support after the IOC withdrew invitations for South Africa and Rhodesia, he decided, together with Carlos, to not only wear their gloves but also go barefoot to protest poverty, wear beads to protest lynchings, and wear buttons that said OPHR. (See 1968 Olympics Black Power salute.) Some people (particularly IOC president Avery Brundage) felt that a political statement had no place in the international forum of the Olympic Games. In an immediate response to their actions, Smith and Carlos were suspended from the U.S. team by Brundage and voluntarily moved from the Olympic Village. Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. The Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was accepted in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and so was considered unacceptable. People who opposed the protest said the actions disgraced all Americans. Supporters, on the other hand, praised the men for their bravery. The men's gesture had lingering effects for all three athletes, the most serious of which were death threats against Smith, Carlos and their families.

Smith on 1968 'Black Power' Salute
''The following excerpts are from an August 2012 interview between journalist Joshua Haddow, questions in bold, and Tommie Smith. Tommie Smith refers to himself in the third-person throughout his responses.''

What was the reaction to the Olympic Project for Human Rights proposal of the boycott?

There were athletes on the 4x100m relay team that were qualified officers in the American army. They honestly, really could not get involved in anything that would question American dignity when it came to equality. God knows what would have happened to them had they openly backed the Olympic Project for Human Rights in its most powerful stand for human liberty.

'''So in 1968 you have Avery Brundage, as the president of the International Olympic Committee. He used the argument that the Olympics should be a non-political event. What did you think of Avery Brundage?'''

Tommie Smith doesn't look at a white man and says he’s wrong, I’d look at no person and think they’re wrong until they verbally abuse the idea of freedom. I do believe Avery Brundage certainly did that. Avery Brundage backed the 1936 fight against Jessie Owens because he was black. Avery Brundage was also very instrumental in the belief of apartheid. Now, what he did in 1968 was he put a barrier on the United States Olympic Committee proclaiming that if any athlete came in front of the world with Carlos and Smith, the entire American Olympic team would be disqualified. So they had to terminate the continual competition of Smith and Carlos. What else could the USOC do?

'''Not a lot, I suppose. Where do you see the civil rights movement now? '''

I think it’s grown more mentally than it has changed. Change is gonna continue to come, I suppose that is why I love the song "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke. As long as there’s man, there’s gonna be a need for proactive work, proactive change. This is what makes man so interesting. ''This is the interest of the human race. God did not permit the human race to be boring. But he did suggest a belief that, if you believe, then you have to tell people why you believe in what you believe in, and continue to move from there. I know it’s vague, but what else can I do to preserve the integrity of the thought process when it comes to mankind?''

'''It's a pretty cliche question, but then it was also probably one of the most iconic moments of the 20th century. What was going through your mind when you were on the podium and gave the salute? What were you feeling at the time?'''

A lot of happenings, Joshua. A lot came to mind on the victory stand, in nanoseconds. From the time I got involved until that particular raising of the fist in solidarity. From getting no jobs, my belief in humanity, both civil and human, and I had to say something because, you know, I believed. ''You can run, but you cannot hide, and this was all part of my belief then and is still now. I have a responsibility. I was on a mission. It was a Tommie Smith mission to bring forth the need for America to change. To change its policies, in terms of equality, to change its policies in terms of equal rights, and the right of all people in a country which the constitution has promised to protect. Very simple. Tommie Smith cannot see the big problem of change for the positive. It’s called politics. Some will, some won’t. We have a president now who I think is doing marvelous things, and still no matter what one does, people are gonna fight it, even if it takes the lives of those who don’t understand.''

'''What was said between the three medalists—yourself, John Carlos and Peter Norman—before the podium? '''

Well our conversation was long and mighty. In terms of Peter Norman, he expressed verbally his idea of human rights. When he got on the victory stand he was wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights button symbolizing his belief in human rights. Not symbolizing his belief in black rights in this country, but in human rights, which included the black rights. Tommie Smith and John Carlos had the same button on, therefore that tied him with the belief in human rights. Now, this man ran a great race. He ran a race of authority, especially the last six meters, to become a silver medalist. When he got back to his country, which also had problems with blackness, especially with the aborigine congregation, he was not received very well. I think he was vilified because he stood on the victory stand with a button on. There was nothing that he could do to make the country understand that he was not guilty.

But in the end he was vindicated, right?

I think so, Joshua, I think so. Because the man stands as the pride of freedom. Not to be vilified for standing with two black men who were having problems in their own country, dealing with freedom.

'''Literally the moment you raised your fist on the podium, were there any thoughts going through your mind? Were you thinking of other people, or your own family, or anything like that?'''

There was no time to think of negatives. I had thought of negatives long before then. The threats that Tommie Smith and John Carlos had received before then, was enough thought. And the thought that Tommie Smith had on the victory stand was prayer, which I did, while the national anthem was playing, with my head bowed, and my fist in the air. And the solidarity of the mixture of the congregation of different athletes at that Olympic Games. And because the national anthem was played, it represents the tie I had with a country that needed to understand that human rights is an issue. Civil rights were certainly the issue, because that’s where I was from, and I was proud to be from where I was from, but there was more work needed. That was it in a nutshell.

Could you describe the reaction?

First of all, it was very quiet because no one expected to see what had just happened. And then there were murmurs after they realized what was happening. Of course we received boos and cat calls, as we call them in the United States. Once we got off the podium and started to head back, that’s why you see my fist went up again as we crossed the track, in solidarity for the last time, whether they wanted to believe it or not. Tommie still had no negativity in his mind.

Smith on 'Black Power'
Whose were the gloves [worn in the 1968 picture]?

Those gloves belonged to Tommie Smith. I wore the right hand, and John Carlos wore the left hand. I gave John Carlos one because we had talked about something and it ended up as the victory stand with both hands raised in the air suggesting the same type of freedom. The cry for freedom, I call it. Not necessarily Black Power. It was black, young athletes raising this question and people call it Black Power because they suggest that we did the same thing as the Black Panthers did in the United States.

And that wasn’t the case?

No, it was not the case, no. The Panthers had their own right in doing what they did. They served the community, by any means necessary. By any means necessary they helped thousands of people. But the victory stand, and the gloves, were not part of the Black Panther movement.

Athletics and Career
During his career, Smith set seven individual world records and also was a member of several world-record relay teams at San Jose State, where he was coached by Lloyd (Bud) Winter. With personal records of 10.1 for 100 meters, 19.83 for 200 and 44.5 for the 400, Smith still ranks high on the world all-time lists. After graduating, Smith played professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals for three years.

After his track career, he became a member of the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1996, Smith was inducted into the California Black Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1999 he received that organization's Sportsman of the Millennium Award. In 2000 - 2001 the County of Los Angeles and the State of Texas presented Smith with Commendation, Recognition and Proclamation Awards.

He later became a track coach at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also taught sociology and until recently was a faculty member at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California.

With author David Steele, Smith wrote his autobiography, entitled Silent Gesture, published in February 2007 by Temple University Press.

In August 2008, Tommie Smith gave 2008 Olympic triple gold winner Usain Bolt of Jamaica one of his shoes from the 1968 Olympics as a birthday gift.

In 2010, Smith announced that he would sell the gold medal he won at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He put his gold medal for the 200 meters and spikes up for auction. The bid started at $250,000, and the sale was scheduled to close November 4, 2010?

Recognition
Tommie Smith is featured in the 1999 HBO documentary "Fists of Freedom: The Story of the '68 Summer Games." The documentary looks at events leading up to, during and after the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, featuring interviews with athletes, including Tommie Smith, John Carlos and George Foreman, activist Dr. Harry Edwards (sociologist), journalists and archival footage of the Games and the fallout after the raised fisted gloves by Carlos and Smith.


 * “We were not Antichrists. We were just human beings who saw a need to bring attention to the inequality in our country.  I don’t like the idea of people looking at it as negative.  There was nothing but a raised fist in the air and a bowed head, acknowledging the American flag – not symbolizing a hatred for it."

For his lifelong commitment to athletics, education, and human rights following his silent gesture of protest at the '68 Olympics in Mexico City, Smith received the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts.

An airbrush mural of the trio on podium exists in the Sydney suburb of Newtown. Silvio Offria, who allowed an artist known only as "Donald" to paint the mural on his house, said Norman came to Newtown to see the mural before he died in 2006, "He came and had his photo taken, he was very happy."

In 2005, a statue showing Smith and Carlos on the medal stand (but not Norman, whose silver medal position is vacant) was constructed by political artist Rigo 23 and dedicated on the campus of San Jose State University.

A mural of the photo taken with Smith on the podium at the 1968 Olympics with Carlos and Norman was painted on the brick wall of a residence in Newtown, New South Wales, Australia, titled "Three Proud People, Mexico, 1968". The mural faces the train tracks linking Sydney city to the Western and Southern Suburbs, and is no longer visible by thousands of commuters every day. Smith, along with Carlos, was a pallbearer at Norman's funeral in Melbourne in 2006.

On July 16, 2008, John Carlos and Tommie Smith accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for their salute at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, California.

Also, on August 8, 2012 a segment on 11 Alive's 11-on-7 was run about Tommie. (Further info to follow.)

Articles

 * Barra, Allan. "Fists Raised, but Not in Anger" The New York Times, August 22, 2008
 * Thomas, Katie. "For Australian Athletes, a Voice From the Grave" The New York Times May 23, 2008
 * "In-flight film will urge Olympians to protest", The Daily Telegraph, May 24, 2008
 * "Norman loses his spot in history", Sporting Life, October 17, 2005
 * "Norman dies after heart attack", Fox Sports, October 3, 2006
 * "Peter Norman, man on podium for Black Power salute, dies", USA Today, October 3, 2006
 * Reed, Ron. "Norman to receive a final salute", The Herald Sun, October 6, 2006
 * Hoy, Greg. "Fellow athletes pay tribute to Peter Norman", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, October 10, 2006
 * Blackistone, Kevin B. "'68 protest more than a memory", The Dallas Morning News, August 23, 2008 (Archived original)
 * "Peter Norman dies after heart attack", The Age, October 3, 2006
 * "Bitter price of Olympics' iconic image", Sydney Morning Herald, October 17, 2003
 * Wise, Mike. "Clenched Fists, Helping Hand", The Washington Post, October 5, 2006
 * "Norman Remembered as an Unflinching Champion", The Australian, October 9, 2006
 * "Carlos, Smith act as pallbearers at funeral of podium mate from 1968 Olympics", MSNBC, October 9, 2006 (Archived original)
 * Rees, Margaret "Australian athlete supported American civil rights struggle", World Socialist Web Site, October 23, 2006