That white guy in the Carlos/Smith Olympic photo

[Recursion]

http://griotmag.com/en/white-man-in-that-photo/

This was fascinating...

Sometimes photographs deceive. Take this one, for example. It represents John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s rebellious gesture the day they won medals for the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and it certainly deceived me for a long time.

I always saw the photo as a powerful image of two barefoot black men, with their heads bowed, their black-gloved fists in the air while the US National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” played. It was a strong symbolic gesture – taking a stand for African American civil rights in a year of tragedies that included the death of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.

It’s a historic photo of two men of color. For this reason I never really paid attention to the other man, white, like me, motionless on the second step of the medal podium. I considered him as a random presence, an extra in Carlos and Smith’s moment, or a kind of intruder. Actually, I even thought that that guy – who seemed to be just a simpering Englishman – represented, in his icy immobility, the will to resist the change that Smith and Carlos were invoking in their silent protest. But I was wrong.

Thanks to an old article by Gianni Mura, today I discovered the truth: that white man in the photo is, perhaps, the biggest hero of that night in 1968. His name was Peter Norman, he was an Australian that arrived in the 200 meters finals after having ran an amazing 20.22 in the semi finals. Only the two Americans, Tommie “The Jet” Smith and John Carlos had done better: 20.14 and 20.12, respectively.

There are Carlos and Smith serving as Norman's pallbearers in 2006.

[KeepItReal]

1. Thank you for this.

The level of hatred and retribution directed at these men for simply promoting equality tells you how ingrained White supremacy was in both nations.

[malaise]

2. Three great guys

I know their story well

Rec

[Recursion]

12. Sorry I was late to the party on this one, Malaise

What amazing stories those three athletes have...

[malaise]

13. We've had threads on this before

and Carlos and Smith are well loved in these parts.

[madaboutharry]

3. Thank you for posting.

[ellenrr]

4. Peter Norman was a hero,

no need to rate these guys, all 3 of them are an inspiration.
Peter was a hero to me - not bec. of his speed - but bec his outlook was the same as Carlos and Smith. And he suffered for it:


He was the third man on the podium during the infamous Black Power salute
On his left breast he wore a small badge that read: "Olympic Project for Human Rights" -- an organization set up a year previously opposed to racism in sport. But while Smith and Carlos are now feted as human rights pioneers, the badge was enough to effectively end Norman's career. He returned home to Australia a pariah, suffering unofficial sanction and ridicule as the Black Power salute's forgotten man. He never ran in the Olympics again.
"As soon as he got home he was hated," explains his nephew Matthew Norman, who has directed a new film -- "Salute!" -- about Peter's life before and after the 1968 Olympics.

"He suffered to the day he died."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/sport/olympics-norman-black-power/

[Recursion]

9. It's appalling he wasn't invited to Sydney

Even just for his athletic achievements I think that was warranted.

[Blue_Tires]

5. Past DU threads:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021109113

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025898256

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=215x41855

http://betterment.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3655371

[Recursion]

14. Thanks! (nt)

[d_legendary1]

19. Thank you for the links

These are the type of stories that should be in the history books regarding civil rights alongside MLK and Rosa Parks. Very good reads.

[enough]

6. All three of these men paid a high price for their bravery.

snip>

The head of the American delegation vowed that these athletes would pay the price their entire lives for that gesture, a gesture he thought had nothing to do with the sport. Smith and Carlos were immediately suspended from the American Olympic team and expelled from the Olympic Village, while the rower Hoffman was accused of conspiracy.

Once home the two fastest men in the world faced heavy repercussions and death threats.

But time, in the end, proved that they had been right and they became champions in the fight for human rights. With their image restored they collaborated with the American team of Athletics, and a statue of them was erected at the San Jose State University. Peter Norman is absent from this statue. His absence from the podium step seems an epitaph of a hero that no one ever noticed. A forgotten athlete, deleted from history, even in Australia, his own country.

Four years later at the 1972 Summer Olympics that took place in Munich, Germany, Norman wasn’t part of the Australian sprinters team, despite having ran qualifying times for the 200 meters thirteen times and the 100 meters five times. Norman left competitive athletics behind after this disappointment, continuing to run at the amatuer level.

Back in the change-resisting, whitewashed Australia he was treated like an outsider, his family outcasted, and work impossible to find. For a time he worked as a gym teacher, continuing to struggle against inequalities as a trade unionist and occasionally working in a butcher shop. An injury caused Norman to contract gangrene which led to issues with depression and alcoholism.

snip>


Thanks for posting this, Recursion.

[Recursion]

11. Yep. It's absolutely inexcusable that Norman was excluded from Sydney in 2000

Even putting his doing the right thing here aside, his athletic achievements deserved more than that.

[muntrv]

25. IOC chairman Avery Brundage was a racist jerk who wanted to punish Smith and Carlos and

all black athletes in 68.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brundage#Political_demonstration_at_Mexico_City

[Bluenorthwest]

28. Brundage was the guy who 'vetted' Nazi Germany for the Olympics, he visited to investigate claims

of antisemitism and discrimination and he returned to say that there was none and that the rumor had been created by the press and the Jews.

[RobinA]

7. Wow

Quite the projection onto Norman. Maybe we should stop thinking we know what people OF ANY RACE are thinking.

[Paladin]

8. Very nice. Thanks. (nt)

[trumad]

10. Great piece

Thanks for posting.

[handmade34]

15. thanks

[mountain grammy]

16. I remember my ex husband was furious when this happened.

Just another reason he became my ex husband.

[LiberalArkie]

17. Thank you, I never knew either.

[sharp_stick]

18. Thanks, I didn't know this

It would sure be nice to see them add him to the statue in SJSU.

[treestar]

20. Very interesting

Didn't know that much detail, and interesting, thanks!

[HelenWheels]

21. Thank you for the info

I never knew the interesting story about Peter Norman. What strong men all three of these men were.

[a kennedy]

22. Great article........never really knew about him.

thanks for posting this. Very informative.

[swilton]

23. Couldn't get the link to open

Here's another Aussie site about the story.

http://theconversation.com/i-will-stand-with-you-finally-an-apology-to-peter-norman-10107

[Xyzse]

24. Thanks, that was definitely interesting to know.

[Scruffy1]

26. I watched that moment with my father.

The American Legion Commander and VFW old soldier saluted them.

[underpants]

27. Great thread