The Olympic Games and Politics

The Olympic Games and Politics
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The Olympic Games and Politics
The 1968 Olympics is one that occurred amidst strong racial and political differences in the United States and other Western countries. Most African Americans believed that the political system discriminated against them by their skin color. As a result, the 1968 Olympic Games led to various divisive and contentious messages by certain athletes. The games, hosted in Mexico City, attracted many Americans to the event. Even though the main interest was to see America top in the games, most of the Americans who attended the event remained divided by racial backgrounds (Davis, 2008). The political situation at the time did not do much to control the situation.
At the time the Olympic Games took place in the City of Mexico, the United States was in the middle of multiple racial discrimination incidents. African Americans felt that the government acted against them. In fact, the country experienced multiple cases of ‘unfair’ incarceration of the non-native Americans (Brown, 2017). Most people from African-American communities fell culpable for multiple crimes. According to the Government, the Criminal Justice System remained focused on ensuring that the rule of law prevails fairly across the United States. Amidst unrest and silent civil strife among African Americans, two American athletes took to the stage to communicate a unique message that was deemed racial.
At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, an American sprinter athlete, became the winner of the 200m meter race.

Fellow American, John Carlos became third in the race (Vooris, 2010). After receiving their medals of honor, the two athletes took to the stage for the national anthem. When the national anthem began, Carlos and Smith conducted the infamous Black Power salute. In their opinion, the event was the best place for them to be seen and heard. They were protesting the racial bias and mistreatment of African Americans and other minority racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. The event did not go on well as the two athletes got booed as they left the stadium. Most of the spectators did not find pleasure in such a display of political affiliation during the event.
In response to the incident, both Carlos and Smith got expelled from the games. They also received high criticism for their actions. The two athletes then went to play in the NFL. Even though the whole incident did not seem to yield positive results, it still sparks lots of debates to the current times. Whether or not the two athletes broke laws and acted on a racial basis continues to attract divergent views from various groups. The image of the two athletes performing the Black Power Salute became the most reproduced photograph in the history of the Olympic Games (Brown, 2017). The government, however, did not take the case seriously. Given the state of national politics at the time of the Olympics, the incident attracted multiple debates.
In the case of the 1968 Olympic Games, it is possible for the Olympic Games to be used to pass political messages. In the 1960s, the U.S. Government was in the middle of fighting racial discrimination. Even though the two athletes, in this case, were not acting on behalf of any government organization or political divide, their actions depicted the then events in the United States. The racial division among citizens was at its highest. Even though the two athletes did not convey their message in the best possible way, the incident was one that could be used to shape the country’s stand on the racial divisions.
References
Brown, D.L. (2017). They didn’t #TakeTheKnee: The Black Power protest salute that shook the world in 1968. The Washington Post. Retrieved on July 31, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/09/24/they-didnt-takeaknee-the-black-power-protest-salute-that-shook-the-world-in-1968/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6b3652508f4b
Davis, D. (2008). Olympic Athletes who Took a Stand. Retrieved on July 31, 2018, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/articles/olympic-athletes-who-took-a-stand-593920/
Vooris, R. (2010). 10 Athletes who made bold political and Social Statements. Retrieved on July 31, 2018, from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/446420-ten-athletes-who-made-major-political-and-social-statements#slide1