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On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in cold blood. In the aftermath of his tragic death, race riots erupted in cities around the nation as the black community violently mourned his murder. A lot of Americans, both black and white, believed the Civil Rights Movement was coming to an end now that the black community lost their beloved leader. The plethora of nasty nicknames and inhumane discrimination that African Americans had endured for years were seemingly never going to stop. However, in October 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos demonstrated at the Olympics Games in Mexico City that African Americans had not given up the fight for racial equality by raising up the black power symbol as they were awarded their prestigious medals.

In the 1960s, much of White America refused to treat African Americans as their equals while continuing to inflict physical and mental harm towards them whenever they could. Considering the length of the awards ceremony as well as the two-minute National Anthem, this photographer had the time to deliberately make these athletes appear as disgraceful and unprofessional as possible. By analyzing the lack of details in this picture, it is easy to see that the person behind the camera, as well as the magazine editors who used this photograph, wanted to portray these racial heroes as villains to an audience of prejudiced Americans.

The first sign that signals a biased take on the event is how the photographer deliberately angled his shot to discredit the athletes’ conduct. By taking the photograph at this particular view, there is no background of the crowd or the American flag. With all elements of the surrounding stadium removed, the photographer was able to purge any positive overtones that the photo could have had. Not only this, but the idea that these are American representatives wasn’t as apparent since their gestures of “black power” were distanced from the American flag. However, the most alarming result of this angle is that there are two officials blocking the view of the athletes’ feet. For nearly 200 years, the ancestors of the black community served as slaves in their bare feet to the all-powerful white man only to see their grandchildren experience vast poverty. These athletes chose to only wear socks to the podium in order to remember all the years of poverty and despair that their culture had endured, yet this photographer purposely angled the shot to block any view of this heroic gesture.

Another sign of ill intent comes by how this moment was photographed in black and white. There were numerous color shots of this historic event, and any press at the 1968 Olympic Games would have had access to a camera that could capture these moments in colorful detail. However, the monochrome color scheme emphasized the racial barrier of the day that physically separated black and white Americans. In addition, these boring colors undermined what should have been a snapshot that captured the wonders of victory. Lastly, by not using color photography, many details became unapparent such as how Tommie Smith (center) wore a scarf while John Carlos (right) had his jacket unzipped to reveal a bead necklace. Both of these elements symbolized the athletes’ remembrance of those who cruelly died from lynchings. By dehumanizing these athletes with a lack of color photography in addition to the planned camera angle, the photographer was able to reduce their entire persona down to being nothing more than arrogant, black men.

So are Tommie Smith and John Carlos heroes or villains? They are clearly heroes that deserve to be honored as men who stood up to racial prejudices and embraced Martin Luther King Jr.’s fallen mantle as leaders in a desperate time for Black Americans Unfortunately, due to racist sentiments of American editors and photographers who took similar pictures like this one, these athletes were suspended from the Olympic Games and treated like human garbage upon return. It unjustly became victory without honor.


Works Cited

Gray, Madison. "John Carlos: Looking Back at a Raised Fist and at a Raised

Consciousness." Keepingscore.blogs.time.com. 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/10/16/john-carlos-looking-back-at-a-raised-

fist-and-at-a-raised-consciousness/
Moore, Kenny. "A Courageous Stand." Sportsillustrated.cnn.com.

05 Aug. 1991. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1139998/index.htm
Prato, Greg. "The Top 10 Moments in U.S. Olympic History."

Rollingstone.com. Web. 04 Feb. 2013. http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/the-top-

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