Fifty Years ago Today: Three Athletes Protest Inequality at Mexico City

It is fifty years since John Carlos, Tommy Smith and Peter Norman protested racial & social inequality on the medal daius for the 200 meters at the Mexico City Olympics.

The image of Smith & Carlos with their fists raised is one of the most easily identifiable images of the C20th and it continues to echo down the generations. It is also poorly understood, from the background, the intent of the gesture and the participation of all three men, rather than just the two who raised their fists.

For anyone who can be bothered to read it (and I just know a lot of people who comment won't bother) this is a pretty good explanation of the protest. Unlike most American accounts it gives Australian Peter Norman his due, something he was always too humble to claim. It also reminds us that these were men not only of deep conviction, but of deep Christian faith. Finally, this is a story of a friendship between three men, forged in a moment but lasting a lifetime.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/...l?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

 

kudos to them for seeing actual discrimination. Because of people like them, we have turned the tables and now laws are on the books to discriminate against whites instead of blacks, men instead of women, cis gender instead of trans gender. More whites are killed by cops per encounter with police than blacks. Reparations through welfare and government subsidies flood the black communities.

Good thing their protests worked so well, they should be commended for their stance against the racism going on in democrat cities in their time.

 

As predicted, didn't read the article. Boxes to tick & all that.

 

You are being a bit economical with the truth there. While it is true that more whites are killed by the cops than blacks, there are many more whites than blacks in the US. Statistically blacks are killed significantly more than whites.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/do-police-kill-more-whites-than-black-people/

 

Racism and discrimination is in our genes. But we have laws to prevent overt racism and discrimination. And most cultured and sophisticated people fight off the urge and behave in a socially acceptable way. Many people who complain about inequality are unable to explain exactly what inequality is and exactly how to eliminate it. But it makes good talking points, makes some using the term seem like they care, and it divides us.

 

Those who cant read are bound to get their FACTS skewed. Blacks are also more likely to encounter or engage with a cop more because they commit more crimes. PER ENCOUNTER with police, whites are more likely to be killed. Whites encounter cops less often per capita than blacks, but are still killed more than blacks.

 

This is like the most backhanded and incorrect compliment I’ve seen so far today.

 

I couldn't access the NYT piece but I'm very familiar with the story. I watched this on TV - just an extraordinary event in an extraordinary time. In addition to Smith & Carlos, Peter Norman was a man of exceptional courage and grace - and was ostracized at home in Australia for his stance on human rights - Australia was disgusting in their treatment of Norman. The AOC left him off the team for Munich 2002 even though he was the 5th ranked 200m sprinter in the world and they wouldn't even invite him to be part of the Sydney 2000 Olympics - extraordinarily, the US Olympic team did invite him. Norman died of a heart attack in 2006, his lifelong friends, Tommie Smith & John Carlos, were pallbearers at his funeral. In 2012 the Australian Parliament issued an apology for his treatment and in 2018 the AOC awarded him the Order of Merit. Quite late to the game in my opinion........meaningful change comes slowly and grudgingly.

 

I was more impressed when the future Muhammad Ali grabbed an American flag and waved it in the ring when he won his Olympic Medal.

 

Good, you understood what I was going for then. But these guys were right in their day.

 

I am a big Peter Norman fan, but the extent of his 'ostracization' post-1968 has been a bit overstated. That great doco his nephew did performed an important service in reminding the world what he did, but it also spread a few myths.

He represented Australia twice after the 1968 Olympic games, in 1969 & then at the 1970 Empire & Commonwealth Games (where he failed to medal). So he wasn't exactly banished from the national stage. In the Australian trials for the 1972 Olympics he finished third. Neither of the men who finished ahead of him went to Munich - we had a very small track team that year. He was also involved in official AOC events in the lead up to the 2000 games. I imagine he wasn't the only silver medallist who didn't get an official invitation, though given the importance of his stand in 1968 there is a good argument for an exception being made. I am glad the US team invited him.

 

First you wrongly said white white people were more likely to be killed than blacks by the police when it is clear that proportionally significantly more blacks are killed than whites and now, having had that pointed out to you, you justify killing blacks. I get your position.

 

In most cases, white and black, it's a case of dumb ass, and dumb usually has to pay.

 

You are overlooking the fact that blacks have higher rate of encounters with cops than whites per capita. This is because blacks break more laws per capita than whites. But per encounter, as I said in the original post, whites are killed more than blacks. Its not like there is some cops going around sniping random blacks from a distance.

 

None of that is proved. However what you did was try to pretend US cops kill more white people when the reality is that if you look at it proportionally which is the only legit way to do it, blacks are killed much more than whites. You then tried to back this up by justifying that they had more contact with the police which you are still doing. That is a subject in itself. Sad the US never properly addressed its racism before it turned again to it.

America Is Authoritarian by Design

 

Its not proven that blacks commit more crimes than whites? Or are you just saying whites and blacks commit equal amounts of crime, just blacks are FAR, FAR FAR more likely to be caught for some reason? (Wonder which reason you believe that would be...)

Per encounter with police (you keep leaving this out of your responses on purpose I know) whites are killed more than blacks.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-kill-more-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/