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John Carlos: 'I Went To The Games To Make A Statement'Published by
1968 Olympian Engages Audience On Instagam Live To Discuss His Protest And How It Relates To What's Happening Now By Kristian Rhim for DyeStat More than 50 years since American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists on the podium during the national anthem at the Mexico City Olympic Games after racing to gold and bronze medals in the 200 meters, protests in the United States and around the world are attached to many of the same issues as 1968. As a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. hung on the wall over his left shoulder, Dr. Carlos took to Instagram live Tuesday night for a conversation where he discussed athlete activism, his historic protest, and how things that have changed – and not changed – since ’68. The Olympic bronze medalist was adamant about the fact that athletes are responsible for using their platforms to speak out for social change. Carlos hopes that the International Olympic Committee adjusts its rules against protesting at official ceremonies. “I know it’s (an athlete's) responsibility, because of the environment in which they came from. You can walk out of the ghetto and walk into the arena and build your profession so strong until you are a superstar, but you cannot walk out of your skin," Carlos said. "The minute you step out of that arena and walk to your car you could lose your life because of the color of your skin.” Carlos believes as strongly as ever that there is a way to get a message delivered on a podium this is simple and powerful. “As long as (athletes) are doing things dignified, demonstration by taking a knee, raising a fist," he said. "They didn’t take a fist and put a finger up; They didn’t kick somebody in the butt. They put a knee to the ground. They didn’t choke anybody with the knee. All they are doing is giving a symbol that you need to have a thought process about this, a discussion about the racism that’s taking place, not only in just general society but in the athletic world. If you stand up on the victory stand and you close your eyes to what you had to endure on the way to that trophy, something is wrong with you. You have a responsibility, and for that responsibility, no one can stop you for God almighty.” Hammer thrower Gwen Berry, who was handed a one-year probation for raising a fist and bowing her head on the podium during the national anthem at the Pan Am Games in 2019. She asked Carlos about the International Olympic Committee’s hypocrisy. The IOC has paid tribute to the Smith-Carlos protest in 1968 while also making a rule that bans future protests. Berry has recently demanded an apology from the USOPC. “They’re just getting in line with so many other hypocrites,” Carlos responded. “You are a champion. I’m in (your) corner one-thousand percent if you ever need to lean on me for any perspective. I’m here for you.” The 75-year old said that when he was 7 or 8 years old, he had a vision of his legendary protest. “God, or whoever the greater power is, showed me as a little kid on a box in the middle of a grass field. I could hear a lot of people, but I couldn’t see them. They were just going yippee ki-yay with excitement and it took a while for me to dawn on me that they must’ve been applauding. The most peculiar thing about it is that I’m right-handed, and in this vision, I went to raise my left hand. The happiness and joy they had in this vision turned to venom, booing, name-calling, spitting, throwing things, and at that age it scared the devil out of me. The picture you see in Mexico, that’s where my hand froze in that vision, and I remember telling my daddy I was in a movie.” Carlos recalled the beginning of that historic day in Mexico City as “a day where you could almost see the rainbow,” until he got to the podium. As upset fans showed their disdain for Carlos and Smith’s stance, as if in a movie, the weather shifted to cloudy skies. The Olympian wasn’t bothered, however, because no weather could ruin his purpose for coming to the Games. “By the time we got on the stand the lightning came, the thunder came, the boos and the anger came, but in all that I felt a calm within myself and I felt like they could take my life now. It doesn’t matter because the precedent has been set,” he said. “That’s what I went to the Olympics for. That medal was for my kids. I didn’t go to the Games for medals. I went to the Games to make a statement.”
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