Tommie Smith's Achievements

In 1968 did the iconic podium stand cause others after Tommie Smith and John Carlos to join by their side to fight and protest or was there a big uproar in negative actions? The first thing that happened is of course the news channels wanted to see what they had to say. Smith and Carlos had an interview with ABC as they walked out of the Olympic village. They get to their hotels because they no longer wanted to and no longer could stay in the village Carlos and Smith where offered to do an interview with BBC Carlos and Smith being tired and sore from competing the last couple of days replied with how he felt and they didn’t want to do the interview and that the only way they would do it if they were both paid $1,000 now remember this is in

A really big thing that the president of the college Dr. Robert Clark did was issue a statement the same day they left Mexico City. This is parts of the statement “We at San Jose State College are proud of the achievements of Tommie Smith and John Carlos in the Olympic Games. All Americans should be proud of their achievement. I regret that our treatment of our Black athletes has been such to prompt them to feel they must use the Olympic Games to communicate their real concern for the conditions of Blacks in America.” (177) This was a positive and pretty powerful person to have behind you as you come back to campus. Dr. Robert Clark received some heat after releasing this statement alumnus claimed they would stop contributing to the school they said they were ashamed to be associated with him. Others demanded that he resign or be fired. One writer went out and said he wished that Dr. Clark would contract a long-term cancer very soon. That was just some of the things that Dr. Clark had to face on a

Someone from outside the United States can see that there was a problem and was willing to step in and help show their support should be a huge eye opener for everyone else in the Unites States. OPHR stands for Olympic Project for Human Rights. Tommie Smith and Lee Evans were influential leaders in the OPHR in the 1968 Olympic games. They were the guys to set up the meeting and head debates about what was going on. OPHR had five central demands one being restore Muhammad Ali’s title, two the removal of Avery Brundge as head of the United States Olympic Committee, three disinvite South Africa and Rhodesia two apartheid states, forth boycott the New York Athletic Club, and lastly hire more black coaches. Tommie Smith took this boycott public in a piece called “Why Negroes Should Boycott” for the March issue of sport in 1968. Article OPHR being the more of the athletic side of their protests still a very important and needed protest and a voice to be