The Olympics, Human Rights, and Holy Mischief (by Jarrod McKenna)
"God Is Love," inscribed on the tracksuit of the athlete who would become the second-fastest man alive, is what first caught the attention of Australian Olympic official Ray Weinberg in the early '60s. But it wouldn't be until Peter Norman participated in an act of holy mischief for human rights (which became known as the "Black Power Salute" of the '68 Mexico games) that this Australian would so publicly put 1 John 4:8 into practice with his African-American brothers.
Life magazine said it was one of the most influential images of the 20th century. Two African Americans and one white Australian took to the winner's dais and, motivated by their shared faith, all wore Olympic Project for Human Rights buttons while the black Americans raised their fists.
Gold medal-winner Tommie Smith and bronze medal-winner John Carlos approached Peter Norman after the race. They asked if the Australian believed in God, if he believed in human rights, and if he would join their witness. Norman explained to Carlos and Smith that he had been raised in the Salvation Army, where service to Christ was never separated from service to the poor and the hurting, that he understood the importance of their cause, and that he would be honored to join them.
Gold medal-winner Dr. Tommie Smith, in his book Silent Gesture, explains the symbols of their prophetic actions that call back to the faithful creativity and holy mischief of Hosea, Jeremiah, Amos, and Jesus himself in confronting the unredeemed "Powers":
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Olympic Project for Human Rights button. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated earlier that year. With that sentiment in mind, all three men wore Olympic Project for Human Rights buttons connecting the struggle of African Americans to those everywhere suffering for human rights.
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No shoes. What is often missed is that both American athletes took to the podium with no shoes as a prophetic sign of the poverty and suffering of black people.
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Black gloves. The gloves were not simply about people power (though certainly not less than that), but also about the cry for freedom to the God who hears and acts on the cries of the oppressed. Be it in Egypt many centuries ago or in China today.
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Bowed heads. Smith writes that the bowed heads was a sign of prayer. The kind of dangerous prayer that longs for God's reign of justice, peace, and joy "on earth as it is in heaven."
The actions of all three men cost them dearly. As documented in Matt Norman's brilliant new film, Salute, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were kicked out of the athletes' village, suspended and banned from the Olympics. For the Australian Peter Norman, participating in the organised action cost him his athletic career and he was not chosen for the next Olympics despite being one of the fastest men in the world.
Just as Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life earlier in 1968, so these three men lived out the costly truth of the cross. As Dr. King put it,
There are some who still find the cross a stumbling block, others consider it foolishness, but I am more convinced than ever before that it is the power of God unto social and individual salvation.
As the Olympic Games in China draw closer let us remember the witness of these courageous athletes, what it cost them, and how important it is that we cheer on our athletes. Not simply cheer them on in their sporting events, but also in taking what often are unpopular Christ-like actions that prophetically call for the end of injustice. In doing so they witness to another world being possible. A world that reflects the verse that Peter Norman would wear on his tracksuits, that "God is Love" and that in Jesus this love has started to "flood the earth like the waters cover the seas."
Jarrod McKenna is seeking to live God's love. He's a co-founder of the Peace Tree Community, serving with the marginalised in one of the poorest areas in his city, and is the founder and creative director of Empowering Peacemakers (EPYC), for which he has received an Australian peace award in his work for peace and (eco)justice.
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Comments
I pray that it DOES happen again and that every athlete from every country demonstrate to China and to all the world that Human Rights are not negotiable. This is not a political, religious or regional view but a Human View.
Not only should those athletes who medals where stripped away from them be restored, the Olympic Committee should publicly apologize for misrepresenting the purpose of the protest. I saw it when it happened and I stood up and cheered as it was being done. I saw the oppression of Blacks in America, supported MLK and agreed with them then and I still do. Human Rights are every-body's right and the responsibility of ever man woman and leader.
Posted by: Paul@wholy4christ.com | August 1, 2008 3:48 PM
I can vividly remember this event. I (white boy) was watching the Olympics with my dad, mom and brother. We were elated over how well these two American athletes had done in this race. We didn't give a hoot about their race. We were proud: of our nation, of these two American athletes. The occasion seemed to set aside all of the racial tensions of the recent years.
Then, as they ascended the medal stand, they raised their black-gloved fists in what was universally understood then as the "Black Power" salute. We all knew what it meant: "in your face, white man" (paraphrased politely). We were stunned. The magic of the moment was destroyed. No longer were we all just Americans. The race card was back on the table.
It troubles me that now, many years later, people are trying to ignore the "Black Power" aspect of what these two athletes did. Many of these revisionists weren't even alive when this event actually happened. They don't understand the context.
My parents were tolerant folk who did many kind things for African-Americans in those days, and who supported civil rights. To this day, I can recall how deeply saddened they were when these two American athletes gave the Black Power salute during the Olympics. To try to pass off that salute as some kind of Christian witness is really lame.
Posted by: Bill | August 1, 2008 4:26 PM
There is no such thing as apolitical-to stand and cheer in China, and pretend that one is removed from the suffering enacted by the Olympic host country is to make a political choice-to condone injustice.
Let's remember that the Olympics have always been a reflection of a longing for global community-even as we cheer our respective nations.
To pass off "tolerant (white) christian folks" despite the unwillingness to actually acknowledge the unjust racial politics that structure this world, especially during a time of turbulent social change and injustice, is really lame.
Posted by: Chinese Canadian | August 1, 2008 4:46 PM
re: posted by Bill
"To try to pass off that salute as some kind of Christian witness is really lame."
Prophetic witness is never popular. Case in point.
Posted by: JH | August 1, 2008 4:51 PM
Call me an idealist, but I love the Olympics for the coming together of the world for the love of sport and all the disciplines that make an athlete. We set aside our differences for that purpose -- so we can see each other as valuable humans.
Not every platform you stand on is a pulpit. That's not to say I'm against what these gentlemen did -- I'd just prefer if people didn't use it for that.
The world is coming to China to participate in the Olympics. To protest at the games is about as appropriate as using Christmas Dinner at Uncle Fred's to do an intervention on Uncle Fred's alcoholic ways. Sure the stuff needs to be said, but that isn't the place to do it. If you really care about Uncle Fred, you'd get together again for that.
Besides, the Olympics isn't what it used to be. When Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their hands, the whole world really was watching. It was a major television event. The whole world doesn't watch the Olympics any more. How many people in your office talk about it? It's sort of like the World Series -- you either get excited about it or you don't.
If you never take the time to enjoy Uncle Fred for who he is -- I don't know why he's listen to anything you have to say in an intervention. Uncle Fred is more than his alcoholism and China is more than it's civil rights abuses.
Posted by: frankie | August 1, 2008 5:16 PM
"The race card was back on the table."
It had never left. At the same Olympics, the U.S. rowing team nearly came to blows with the rifle team when the latter hung up a huge "Win With Wallace" sign outside its dorm in the Olympic Village. Just 5 years earlier, George Wallace, governor of Alabama, had stated "segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever," and had stood in the doorway of a school in a symbolic attempt to stop educational integration. In 1968 Wallace ran for the presidency on a 3d party ticket, with support from the John Birch Society, on a pro-racial segregation platform.
Oh, and Wallace's running mate that year was General Earle Wheeler, who suggested that the way to win the Vietnam War was to either bomb North Vietnam "back to the Stone Age" or with bombing destroy North Vietnam and pave it over and make it a giant parking lot.
Posted by: carl copas | August 1, 2008 5:26 PM
Carl --
So my question is this: How did you feel about the Wallace sign? Was it a fitting thing to do at the Olympics? Did it help or hurt their cause?
Posted by: frankie | August 1, 2008 5:54 PM
frankie: "Carl --
So my question is this: How did you feel about the Wallace sign? Was it a fitting thing to do at the Olympics? Did it help or hurt their cause?"
frankie, i see where you're going with this, and it's a good question. Let me throw out a couple of things off the top of my head:
1) Hanging up the Wallace sign is not the same thing as the black power salutes. Wallace promoted subjugation of African Americans and racial hatred. While some black power advocates promoted racial hatred, most did not, and certainly Carlos and Smith did not. Black pride and the desire for black economic independence, the two pillars of black power, do not necessarily equal hatred of whites.
2) Context is everything. In 1968 MLK and RFK were assassinated. Blacks were serving in the armed forces in Vietnam in numbers disproportionate to their numbers at home. Race riots erupted in over 200 cities across the nation that spring and summer. A 3d party candidate (Wallace) was running for the presidency on a pro-segregation platform and had attracted significant support in the South and the rural Midwest and West. Richard Nixon ran for the presidency, utilizing the "Southern Strategy," which hinged on playing on southern whites' fears of integration to draw them away from the Democratic Party.
If there was ever an appropriate Olympics for African American athletes to raise the black power sign, this was the one.
How many of you recall the almost hysterical shouts of "USA!! USA!!" at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Many foreigners were appalled at the behavior of the host nation's citizens. Did you condemn that? Did you protest, "No, no!! That kind of nationalism has no place at an event designed to celebrate our common humanity!! This is for the love of sport--only!!"?
Posted by: carl copas | August 1, 2008 8:02 PM
I don't think the raised fist is reflective of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, it is almost blasphemous to say it is.
If the men wanted to portray Christianity in a symbol, there's so many better ways to do so. I'm sure very few people thought, 'Oh, look. They're trying to symbolize the love of Jesus for the downtrodden, with those raised fists.'
I wish everything were that 'fairy tale' perfect in human's hearts, but it isn't. I think the raised fists were calculated to show an attitude, but I don't think it necessarily generated from a heart filled with God's love.
Posted by: Sami | August 1, 2008 8:14 PM
Why don't we all use Matt Norman's film SALUTE as a way of supporting the cause of civil and human rights. Tell everyone to go see the film and pray that it gives Matt his strength to go and make the issues heard around the World. Let's help him make that message heard.
Does anyone else see how ironic it is that Matthew (A gift from God) is the person standing up for civil and human rights.? :) thought i'd add that.
Posted by: Mike Hasthorpe | August 1, 2008 8:33 PM
I'd like to see a new movie made about the Jewish athletes who were killed (was it 1972?) in Munich, Germany.
The Palestinian terrorists showed no compassion, and maybe it would be wise for us to remember how the Jewish peoples have suffered with racial hate.
It might help us to understand how they feel today, with the Muslims sworn to kill them. I'm sure a lot of young voters this year have never even heard much about those brutal and cowardly murderers and the hero athletes who died, simply for being born Jewish.
Posted by: | August 1, 2008 8:52 PM
Good points from both sides . I really do not believeOlympics should be used for politics . They were meant to appeal to our better nature, to come together in the name of good sportsmanship , honing perseverance of those who participate.
As an American and individual I can say I am proud of those two men , also I would say I disagree with their methods . But obviously it took plenty of guts , and they were honoring their conscience . I gave a brief description of what happened to them . Also the chants of USA USA were actually started in the 1980 Olympics . America if you remember was embarrassed by Iran with the hostages being taken , not to mention how sad we all felt for their them , families and not being able to do anything about it . I was actually quite joyous when they won and beat the Russians , also the other teams . Living in NJ when the Mets won in 69 , being never given the chance to win , well I thought it was good time . If people thought shouting USA USA rooting for a team that had no chance , well all I got to say is Tommie Agee , Ron Swoboda , Tom Seaver , Jerry Koosmen, Don McClendon , Don Charles, and a host of guys who made people scream and spill their beer on each other , black , white , brown . Sports has and always been a way for people to come together and break barriers . The first friends I made with different races was because of sports . Loosen up people .
In 1985, Carlos became a counselor and in-school suspension supervisor, as well as the track and field coach, at Palm Springs High School. In 2003, he was elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.
Since the games of the XIX Olympiad, Tommie has enjoyed a distinguished career as a coach, educator, athletic director and activitist.
On July 16, 2008, John Carlos and Tommie Smith accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for their black-gloved fist salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, California.
Posted by: politicsmakeusthisway | August 1, 2008 9:21 PM
We're too easily offended. When we attach our own meaning to a symbolic action, without waiting patiently, without humility and prayer, we reflect our own values and not those of the actors. Looking at the gestures by Smith and Carlos (with support from Norman) and calling them racist is only a reflection of our own racism.
I don't understand how one is supposed to leave Christian faith at the door to any event -- including the Olympics. There is no honor or faithfulness in pretending the Olympics are somehow removed from the turmoil in the rest of the world. The "pure athletics" argument becomes an excuse to stay uninvolved rather than put ourselves at any kind of risk -- even for justice, mercy, and Christ.
If other athletes want to hang up a George Wallace sign, I guess they're going to do it. The motivation isn't holy or helpful, but reflects the anger and hatred burning, not just through the South, but all over the country. What -- we don't take a prophet's voice because there will be some group of Pharisees just waiting to tear us down?
What's wrong, when an event like the testimony of the 1968 Olymics occurs, with struggling to see what we can learn from it and bypass the need to judge and condemn?
Posted by: openeyes | August 1, 2008 10:51 PM
What's wrong, when an event like the testimony of the 1968 Olymics occurs, with struggling to see what we can learn from it and bypass the need to judge and condemn?
Posted by: openeyes
Just a matter of viewpoint here , nothing Christian about either view . Perhaps in how we explain our views . Jesus was annointed with perfume , I recall someone may a fuss about it . More or less the Lord told him to chill out . The money spent on his perfume made no difference in the total outcome of the poor . Many see the Olympics as an afternoon off from the things that divide us with an emphasis on good sportmenship and our support for those who sacrifice so hard .
If you tried for 10 years to accomplish say being the best at running a mile and came in second , and the guy who came in third raised up a political flag that meant something some agreed with and the guy who came in first did the same , Ican understand the people , families , country and the many of us sports fans saying , oh brother , find a forum where so many sacrifices were not given in order for you to be central stage because of them .
Perhaps a little compassion for the folks who see the Olympics for what they were meant to stand for should be in order also . Thats not leaving Christianity out of it my friend .
Posted by: politicsmakeusthisway | August 2, 2008 3:25 AM
The whole story is just a good illustration of how impossible it is to come to agreement apart form Christ. All of the "shoulds" in the posts above are meaningless. Should according to whom, according to what ethic, according to what standard?
Sporting evens are private events. That governments subsidize these events is a shame, especially when there are plenty of corporate sponsors willing to play a greater role. We take money from taxpayers and spend it on sports, all in the name of some ethereal solidarity, which apart from Christ must be martial.
Athletes can demonstrate this truth by flaunting the Olympic rules, but then the Olympics can kick them out, just like any other private club.
Posted by: naturalaw | August 2, 2008 9:00 AM
Human rights are not negotiable. I hope we see athletes standing up for human rights... this is what the olympics stand for and these values are being disgraced by the chinese.
Posted by: nope | August 2, 2008 4:54 PM
"it should be for the love of sport - only"
Some things are more important than sport
Posted by: squeaky | August 2, 2008 10:22 PM
it should be for the love of sport - only"
Some things are more important than sport
Posted by: squeaky
Most things are more important then sport . I think that is why people like going to the movies , watching or playing sports . Kind of a time off from realities .
I go golfing sometimes , wonder if on the 5th green if I started shouting help those in Darfur help anything , or would the person who told me to shut up he was putting be more right ? I guess the big audience makes it more temting to shout out , but the other guy putting is still saying what about me .
P.S Its me , don't tell Don
Posted by: politicsmakeusthisway | August 3, 2008 2:43 AM
I think the Olympics should be mostly athletic, after it is a sporting contest, not the G8 summit or APEC. However, when such an event causes the rich and power hungry communist leaders, and all the millions of Chinese citizens that rely on them to increase in their corruption and oppression of their fellow Chinese by stealing and demolishing their homes to 'renovate' Beijing, then beating and killing them for standing up for their rights as humans, haven't THEY married together politics and a cultural event?
The Olympics aren't only a podium on which athletes may be able to express their views on unrelated human rights issues (such as Tibet), but the Games have DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTED to an increase in human rights abuses by the Chinese government. Something needs to be said about THIS, if nothing else, at least for now.
Posted by: Adam Lee-Australia | August 3, 2008 5:59 AM
I think we have to look at the fact that the athletes at the Olympics are basically representing America -- not just themselves.
As a representative from America, it seems divisive for us to applaud our representatives when they openly endorse a faction of America, rather than the whole.
As wrong as America might have been at the time the Black Power symbol was given at the Olympics, (and I firmly believe America was very wrong in its past concerning the Black community), the fact remains that Americans' inherent belief system was being tested and tried and transformed -- we were fluid and moving toward equality for all, albeit very slowly. It is impossible to transform a generation, overnight or with extreme force, especially if the transformation is to begin in the HEART and not just the HEAD.
Millions of Americans had to change our whole value system as was taught to us by our parents, our extended families, our friends, our Government, and our ministers and church leaders. That is a huge transformation by anyone's standards!
Millions of Americans had to accept the fact that all these afore-mentioned 'experts' and life-long associations, had been terribly WRONG, if America were going to inherently change from the heart outward.
We go backward in our forward, fluid momentum, when athletes who are supposed to represent ALL Americans, take it upon themselves to represent only a minor portion of America at the time. That is why I think these athletes' actions were not laudable -- not because they were wrong, but because their platform was wrong.
In my opinion, they weren't even properly representing America's future, because I think it was not Black Power that changed Americans' hearts -- I think it was the Power of Love and Justice, and those qualities and attributes can never be achieved through force, only through changing the heart of Americans, with God's grace.
Posted by: | August 3, 2008 9:20 AM
it should be for the love of sport - only"
Some things are more important than sport
Posted by: squeaky
Most things are way more important then sport squeaky . I think this is why we have sport, movies , recess at school . A chance just to come together and enjoy for a while . Take the focus off paying the rent , your child that is having problems , etc ,
We should take into account all the innocent people here who work so hard to make the Olmpics happen for non political reasons . I can see both sides , but its nice to have events that allow you to watch other people perform .
But I remember reading about Jesse owens showing Hitler his master race idea was not so accurate , so being political has its merits I agree .
Anyway , the Yanks are making come back , take care
Posted by: neutral | August 3, 2008 4:03 PM
The whole problem here is state subsidization of sport.
Who says that some athlete represents all of us? Did the Jamaican Bobsledders represent all Jamaicans?
What is there that all Americans agree about?
Nonsense.
The Olympics are bunk. Have you all heard the story of the American female basketball player who will be playing for the Russians in the Olympics? I say, good on 'ya gal! Get paid! There is no such thing as voluntary national solidarity, only that which is backed by force.
Posted by: naturalaw | August 3, 2008 5:25 PM
It would be nice if the Olympics were purely about sport and not politics. But they are, so we can't leave it out of the Games.
Plus this is a huge stage with billions watching so people will take advantage of that to broadcast a message. After the games are finished their exposure diminishes so people have to take the chances they are given.
Posted by: Gaz | August 3, 2008 9:01 PM
Awesome article Jarrod. Let's never forget to use our power, fame, resources and lives to honour the call of Jesus to help the needy and oppressed.
Posted by: Emma | August 3, 2008 11:02 PM
"Its me , don't tell Don"
I know, Mick. You're pretty easy to spot =).
So what, do you have like 18 e-mail addresses now, or do you just change your name when you post...
Posted by: squeaky | August 4, 2008 12:27 AM
I feel this discussion has moved away from the original discussion around how participants (either athletes or spectators) respond to China's human rights abuses...if they respond at all.
While many people who have posted agree that politics and sport should be kept separate "for the love of sport" the reality is the world just doesn't work that way.
The process for China to host the Olympics included them making assurances around their human rights record which they have not lived up to.
Also it seems that the process of China preparing for the Olympics has led to further human rights abuses.
Finally, I find it concerning that the athletes are being told explicitly to "stay out of it". Surely this is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our personal freedom which we value so highly. My question is - is this because of the Olympic ideal or is it because it is commercially damaging for athletes to protest? When we claim that sport is exempt from politics we forget that athletes are often sponsored by multinationals, some of whom may benefit from China's human rights abuses but using 'unfair' trade practices.
God Bless everyone who takes the time to read this thread and consider their own position.
Posted by: elise | August 4, 2008 6:28 AM
nice guy/Mod'lad: "Eric Idle ran in the Olympics and because his race was on Sunday and he could not run on his 'day of rest', he was willing to bow out."
Eric Idle? Did "Monty Python's Flying Circus" shoot episodes on Sunday?
Posted by: carl copas | August 4, 2008 10:56 AM
Most people don't want justice or freedom enough to stand up and demand it. The responses reflect that. Most Christians have been utterly compliant with every atrocity in human history. There is nothing all that noble about such compliance or with the short-lived false front of "friendly competition among nations. Why really are there national teams at all? What does that have to do with sport or athletic prowess? The full story of the article shows the willingness of political /media cultures to claim credit and glory from members of oppressed communities as long as they conform with the desired image and of those same cultures to damage and vilify those who stand up against injustice.
There is always some reason which those who defend injustice can use to explain why people like Ghandi, King, Cindy Sheehan, Jesus, and the pages and pages of artists, athletes, human rights workers, union workers etc. should shut their mouths and stop their acts of resistance. Thank God they never will. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice.
Posted by: jonabark | August 4, 2008 12:16 PM
It was Eric Liddell, not Eric Idle.
Posted by: Don | August 4, 2008 2:36 PM
Ghandi, King, Jesus and... Cindy Sheehan? The Son of God and Sheehan in the same list? Ugh...talk about defining greatness down.
Okay, I'll stop laughing now.
Posted by: LOL | August 4, 2008 3:08 PM
I must give a shout out to Eric Liddell -- since he's one of my heros -- and several friends grew up in the same concentration camp in China where he was imprisoned during WWII.
There are several books about him and his "protest" that are more fully supported by his family than Chariots of Fire. They aren't as glamorous, but they are more accurate.
He was a great man who truly lived what he believed.
Posted by: frankie | August 4, 2008 5:05 PM
"They (the Olympics) should just be for the love of sport" posted by Nice Guy
Since when have the Olympics ever been just about the love for sport?
Posted by: sam | August 4, 2008 5:46 PM
If God can use a donkey as a prophet he can use a woman who has suffered directly from the lies and covetousness of a handful of murderous oil billionaires. What is the basis of your laughter LOL?
The word dikaios from Matthew 5 is most narrowly translated as just.
I believe Jesus stood in the long tradition of prophets who were nonplussed by obsessions with personal piety, purity codes and other expressions of personal righteousness that he was calling all to do justice and love mercy. Let one who has 2 coats give to the one who has no coat, that kind of thing.
Mr Nice Guy, you want to impute some kind of purity and salvific quality to sport or to a faith based "righteousness" but it takes courage and sacrifice to speak truth and call for justice; very few can face the consequences of confronting evil with love. You want to discredit those who struggled to achieve great athletic skill and then used their moment of glory to speak on behalf of the oppressed. How have you earned your judgement seat? Where does the spirit of God give special status to athletic competition? Isn't the human obsession with games a powerful distraction from the issues of justice that are so inseparable from the law and prophets.
You seem to me to be offering chaff for food and tossing out the grain.
Posted by: jonabark | August 4, 2008 10:48 PM
Without sounding like I'm hating on you, I'd like to refute your button theory. The buttons would most likely be made in China anyway(joke). Seriously though, I can't see it doing much good. It's like a union. Unless it has the ability to strike, and it is not afraid to use it, the union has no power and those in charge will continue to oppress. The members of the union could wear t-shirts and buttons and all kinds of stuff with no change. Not to mention it isn't really asking much of the members. It might take the pain you are afraid to experience to produce the results you're looking for. I could watch all the workout videos I'd like and never grow the muscles. no pain no gain.
I've also noticed that a majority of responders are whining about how it makes that feel uncomfortable when someone stands up for something on this stage, the Olympic stage. What about American sports, Touchdowns and home-runs? Where do you draw the line? I think you're just a little bit too comfortable with life the way it is.
On second thought, it might not be such a good for them to have rights anyways, we're getting the benefit of the doubt. I like my huge TV and my camera and all those shirts.
Let's just leave it be!
Posted by: Raymondo | August 5, 2008 12:14 AM
nice guy your arguments are getting sillier and weaker. Not everyone has access to any stage or microphone. No one is arguing for that.
The truth is that all the sweetness and friendliness to China and all the commercial ties have done far more to corrupt America and our lobbying and politics than it has done to improve human rights in China(no important progress there). The games will be one more confirmation to the Chinese government that there will be no serious attempt to stand up to the despotic power of the "communist" party of China.
Posted by: jonabark | August 5, 2008 10:49 AM
To me, the Games have celebrated diversity long before diversity was even a word. Each nation take a certain pride in who they are, and rightly so. Their stories, where they have come from, is as amazing as their discipline to their sports.
Every person from China at or watching the games is oppressed. We know this. Our journalist are mad because some websites are not available to them during the Games. Well heck -- that's what it's like in China. They have to live that way every day.
There is amazing value in walking around in someone else's shoes a while. I think we would all come away with more understanding if we saw what it's like to be from China. One third of the world's population lives in all that oppression every day.
Protests at the Games say that we cannot come together and celebrate the best in all of us. It says we only see them as horrible people because of what their leaders do.
Do you not remember Tianneman Square? Peaceful protests cost many students their lives. If you draw some Chinese athletes into your protest, it will likely ruin their lives. You could get them killed for being nearby the incident or reading a sign out loud.
As James wisely instructs us, "Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."
Posted by: frankie | August 5, 2008 10:50 AM
the word diversity was well established long before the modern games.
And I am not impressed with your 'we should all submit to bullies because they might hurt us if we don't' argument.
Posted by: jonabark | August 5, 2008 10:58 AM
I'm not saying submit to bullies.
I'm just saying that "peaceful protests" are not heard by the Chinese government.
Posted by: frankie | August 5, 2008 12:12 PM
I wonder what would have happened if these two had not done what they did on the dias and had taken to talk about it after the Olympics. Would their message been more accepted by many in the US and might they have been seen as uniters rather than dividers.
You must be joking. That's precisely why and when they did what they did -- in those days America liked its black athletes talented but compliant and non-offensive; those that didn't take any public stand back then because of the prevailing ethos have spoken since of the isolation they felt outside the sports arena.
BTW, the correct spelling is "dais."
Posted by: Rick | August 5, 2008 12:32 PM
The reference to Tiananmen Square reminds me of something both strategic and somewhat amusing (given the tragic topic). On the first anniversary of the invasion, there was a movement for college students around the country to wear a white shirt on that day. In China, white symbolizes death and mourning and is worn at funerals. Funny thing is, in 1990 almost all men wore white short-sleeved button-down shirts in the summer because they were comfortable in the hot weather. So what was the government supposed to do, outlaw white shirts, and thus require men to wear something out of the ordinary on that special day? I thought it was clever as hell.
Posted by: I and I | August 5, 2008 1:37 PM
nice guy -- If you don't want me to comment on what you say, then you are completely free not to post here. As I have said in the past, you don't run the show so get used to that.
As for "disrespect," apparently you consider that to mean any challenge to your ideological agenda, which, as someone who's always been extremely well-informed, I reserve the right to do becaue it does have some serious flaws. Keep in mind, however, that you have displayed every one of the stereotypes about conservatives that I've developed over the years -- always right, argumentative and extremely thin-skinned, among others. And others have said the same thing.
As for playing the "race card," let's face it -- race is still a problem in this country that the political right doesn't want to face because doing so will expose its own culpability in keeping things going. This particular thread also is about race, if you haven't noted -- the anger that always existed in the black community came to full boil in the mid-to-late 1960s (despite his public personal as a man of peace, MLK Jr. was among the angriest). Why does speaking truth threaten? Because it disturbs the status quo.
Posted by: Rick | August 5, 2008 2:36 PM
frankie: "I'm just saying that "peaceful protests" are not heard by the Chinese government."
frankie, I'm not sure about this. Certainly the government "heard" the peaceful protests that attended the Olympic torch as it made its way to Beijing. The government vociferously condemned the actions.
Posted by: carl copas | August 5, 2008 3:54 PM
As a ten year old in 1968 I watched in awe as Smith and Carlos raised their gloved fists on the medal stand and proclaimed by their actions that "we" as a people would not back down, we would continue to bring awareness to the cancer in our country.
You might think that a ten year old would not have these kinds of thoughts but that was a special time. I was raised by parents who were very active in the NAACP. From the time I was six I attended the "Negro History Reading Circle" every Saturday morning. We followed the current events and we knew that Dr. King was working for the rights of everyone, not just black people.
When Dr. King was gunned down in Memphis, Senator Kennedy spoke in Indianapolis about how:
"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
June 6 rolled around and the man who spoke to us in that horrible moment of despair and in essence said, "Keep the faith!" was murdered in Los Angeles.
How would one keep the faith if one KNOWS that ANYONE who spoke out or took action to address the wrongs, the unrighteousness of our nation would be answered with a bullet? What do you do, where do you turn, what hope is there to be found in the future? Where do you find the courage to stand and say, I'm Hear!?
Yeah, I was proud of those guys for they were "...like a tree that stands beside the waters, WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED!"
The fact that the actions of Carlos, Smith and Norman still resonate 40 years later is testament to the power of that moment.
"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
"This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
Frederick Douglass -- 1857
Posted by: Larry Bellinger | August 5, 2008 11:06 PM
Posted by: big guy | August 6, 2008 3:16 PM
I still ask the question - where does it end?
The setting does not fit the issue(s) or agenda.
You must take into account the year, the era. Everything was going on within the country amid the sound of distant thunder coming from Vietnam.
1968
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy
The Democratic Convention in Chicago
The Olympics
Nixon vs. Humphrey
Hell of a year.
Enjoy the spirit of Olympic competition and share it with your daughter.
Posted by: Larry Bellinger | August 7, 2008 7:52 PM
Great article Jazz, fantastic comments. I have just sat and explained it all to Mik my 12 year old. I am not participating in the Olympics as a viewer this year for my own reasons but I pray deeply for people making any kind of statement there in China against the treatment of humans in and by China.
Posted by: vawz | August 11, 2008 6:39 AM
- The statement made by the athletes is the sign of their times with MLK Jr. assassination. Whether it was strategic in its delivery is another question. We can oppose certain oppression but in not providing a solution is just another statement to consider. MLK provided that solution and an integrated vision.
- The actions of the organizing is playing it "safe". The committee might think they are promoting olympics for "goodwill" among nations but with their own political agenda = making money. Any agenda contrary is dismissed like the three athletes. If you were a sponsor I think you would think about losing customers because of their statement, hence money.
- I don't know if their symbols reflect MLK aspirations and idea of struggle. MLK's vision is for humanity, but I am not sure whether the athletes share this inclusive vision? Or is it more the black struggle? The pin has no visual appeal even from the stands and hence is a weak symbol on the inclusive vision MLK fought and died for.
Posted by: Matius | September 18, 2008 6:03 AM
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