Olympic Legend Sees 1968 Again Amid Uproar Over Team USA Athletes Questioning America

As John Carlos sat in his Georgia home watching the Winter Olympics unfold in Italy, he felt the familiar sensation of defiance. Nearly six decades after his own Olympic moment ignited a national firestorm, Mr. Carlos recognized the tone of the criticism now being directed at American athletes who have dared to speak honestly about representing the United States during a time of political and social turmoil.Mr. Carlos, now 80, understands the backlash better than most. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, he and fellow sprinter Tommie Smith created one of the most enduring images in sports history when they transformed a medal ceremony into a global protest against racial injustice in America.After finishing first and third in the 200-meter race, Messrs. Smith and Carlos stood onto the podium wearing black socks with no shoes as each raised a black-gloved fist high in the air as the American national anthem was played. Their silent protest with heads bowed was rooted in the Civil Rights Movement and was meant to call attention to segregation, racial violence and the denial of basic civil rights for African Americans.The response was immediate and unforgiving. Both men were immediately expelled from the Olympic Village, condemned by sports officials and vilified in much of the American media, who labeled the act unpatriotic, disrespectful and inappropriate.That history rushed back to Mr. Carlos when American freestyle skiers Hunter Hess and Chris Lillis drew sharp criticism at the 2026 Winter Games for expressing “mixed emotions” about representing the U.S. during its current political and social concerns over immigration and other policies.Mr. Hess said during a press conference in Italy, “Just because I wear the flag, it doesn’t mean I represent everything that is going on in the U.S.”Mr. Lillis said, “I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect.”Conservative commentators swiftly condemned the skiers, accusing them of being unpatriotic, and disrespectful. Some suggested the athletes don’t deserve to wear red, white and blue and should leave their political opinions to themselves.Mr. Carlos faced similar criticism 58 years ago. “It was an asinine statement in 1968, and I still think it’s an asinine statement today,” Mr. Carlos told the Sun in an exclusive interview. “Yes, you feel good that you’re at the Olympics and you feel good that you’re representing your country. But you’re still a human being or did I give up my humanity to compete in the Olympics?”To Mr. Carlos, the idea that patriotism and love of country require silence is a contradiction. He argues that love of country includes the right-and-responsibility to point out when it falls short of its ideals. For that reason, he used the Olympics to stage a peaceful protest.“Where else would I be able to exploit the opportunity to express my concerns to that degree” he said. “I could have done it in front of the Apollo Theater, but I don’t think I would have gotten much attention.”Born in the Bronx and raised in Harlem Mr. Carlos said his actions in Mexico City were shaped by the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, the leader of the Civil Rights Movement who was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, just six months before the Olympics in Mexico. The killing of Senator Robert Kennedy in June of that same year added to the political and racial unrest that defined that era.“The thing Dr. King impressed upon me was to make a statement, be positive about the statement and at the same time be non-violent,” Mr. Carlos said. “Some people think the only way to make a statement is to be violent in defending that statement. But we let people know you could make a universal statement without having to kill, maim, or injure anyone to get the point across.”Many Olympians and athletes in general refrain from speaking about political and social issues for fear of suffering financial repercussions. Several American tennis players competing recently at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, dodged around repeated questions about their thoughts on the political and social issues in the United States. Mr. Carlos applauds the Olympians in Italy for speaking their truth.“For the last 20 years, the dollar is more important than life itself,” he said. “There’s no morality, there’s no respect or honor. It’s all about the dollar. They become very subservient. When you take the attitude that you don’t care about humanity and all you care about is self and the dollar, that’s a bad precedent for younger athletes to follow.”He bristles at the familiar refrain telling athletes to “shut up and play,” viewing it as a mechanism of control rather than a defense of sport.“What’s happening in Italy is indicative of what it was like in 1968,” he said. ‘Just shut up and play.’ You’re just an instrument to their bottom dollar. It’s like the Roman days when you were put in the arena and had to kill a lion, so people could sit and eat grapes and be entertained. If one athlete falls out of grace or causes trouble, there’s a thousand more ready to take his place. People who are empowered can mess with their pocket and they can’t have that.”History has been kinder to Messrs. Clark and Smith and their silent protest in Mexico City is now widely celebrated as an act of moral courage.“This is their fight now,” Mr. Carlos said of today’s Olympians. “I’m 80 years old. All I can do is sit back and say I did my share.”

Olympic Legend Sees 1968 Again Amid Uproar Over Team USA Athletes Questioning America

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