Sidelined by Simon Henderson

Author:Simon Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780813141565
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky

Letting the Team Down?

The reactions of those on the U.S. Olympic team, both at the time and since, reflect a contested interpretation of the memory of Smith and Carlos’s stand. The way that their teammates interpreted and responded to the podium salute further highlights the important search for the meaning of their stand. The fact that even after the passage of forty years many teammates are still critical of various elements of Smith and Carlos’ protest is interesting. The failure of some to embrace the now-dominant popular memory of the podium incident as an example of individual courage in support of an abstract notion of equality is illuminating. The concept of team and the traditional ideals of sporting competition have a critical influence on memories of the protest.

The initial response to the suspension of Smith and Carlos was a radicalization of leading black athletes, many of whom had made statements against the original boycott aims of the OPHR. Following the Smith and Carlos protest the black athletes who were not competing crowded into section twenty-two of the Olympic stadium and gave a clenched fist salute every time a black athlete won a medal.91 There was now an impulse to protest not just racial injustice but the specific treatment of Smith and Carlos. Ron Freeman, a black sprinter, commented, “This is terrible. I think there will be a lot of guys going home.”92 Ahead of his long jump final Ralph Boston stated, “I don’t want Brundage giving me a medal either, if I win one.”93 On the victory podium Boston and world-record breaker Bob Beamon made a symbolic protest against the treatment of their African American teammates. Incensed by the treatment received by Smith and Carlos, 400-meter runner Vincent Matthews wrote “down with Brundage” on his bedsheet and hung it from his window in the Olympic village.94 For many, the reactions of the USOC were symptomatic of the problems of interracial sport that the OPHR was protesting. Black athletes were given conditional equality. They were expected to play whites’ games by whites’ rules. In protesting against racial injustice they had transgressed to the extent that they were removed from the U.S. team. The medals they had won were retained in order to improve the competitive standing of that team, however.

For the black athletes on the U.S. team who were due to compete in the days after the suspension of Smith and Carlos, there was tremendous pressure to make some sort of statement of protest. Particularly affected by this pressure was 400-meter runner Lee Evans. Evans had been one of the founding members of the OPHR and had originally favored the boycott of the games. He and Smith were the most prominent athletes to join with Harry Edwards. The events surrounding his 400-meter final show the twin pressures that threatened the success of the OPHR. These twin pressures came from the Olympic authorities on the one hand and the radicalized wing of the black athletic revolt on the other. At first Evans felt as though he could not run his race after seeing what had happened to Smith and Carlos.

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