October 17, 1968
Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos were forced to return their awards because they raised their fists in a black-power salute during the medal ceremony. When they got to the podium for the medal ceremony, Smith and Carlos were wearing Olympic Project for Human Rights badges on their tracksuits. (Silver medalist Peter Norman, an Australian, wore one too.) They wore no shoes, to symbolize the poverty that plagued so many black Americans. Carlos wore a necklace of black beads, he said, “for those individuals that were lynched or killed that no one said a prayer for, that were hung tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage.” Smith wore a black scarf. Both bowed their heads, raised their gloved hands and remained silent while “The Star-Spangled Banner” played. The two men received death threats for years. In 2005, San José State University unveiled a 20-foot-tall statue honoring the two men.
