1968
Someone asked me last week if these days of protest feel like 1968.
No idea. I was 9 years old in 1968.
But I vividly remember Tommie Smith raising a black gloved, clenched fist on the medal stand at the Mexico City Olympics that year after winning the gold medal and setting a world record in the 200 meters.
That was the year of the Olympic boycott by black athletes. The effort was organized by Dr. Harry Edwards, then a professor of sociology at San Diego State University, where Smith went to college. It was called the Olympic Project for Human Rights.
Side note: Tommie Smith earned a masters degree from Goddard College here in VT later in life and received an honorary degree there a few years ago. Joining him for dinner and hearing him discuss 1968 was a total thrill for me. It amazed me how a 24-year-old could do such a brave thing. He lives in Atlanta today after scratching out a life in which the fame and fortune of a world record and a gold medal were denied him by a white power structure.
So here we are today. Jacob Blake has been shot in the back 7 times by a white policeman in Kenosha, Wisconsin. You know the rest.
The reaction, unlike 1968, is different somehow. I have no idea whether it will head us in a better direction. But it is instructive to explore the differences. We are so much wealthier now. So much more sophisticated. Tommie Smith raised a fist with a black glove and was rejected by the white-dominated economic system his entire life. In 2020, Lebron James took to Twitter and no doubt met with the commissioner of the NBA to discuss the situation.
James said: “FUCK THIS MAN. WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT.”
The NBA coach Doc Rivers expressed himself in a tearful display that said it all.
“All we’re asking is that you live up to the Constitution,’’ he said.
It is worth 11 minutes of your time. It’s heartbreaking. And remember that Doc Rivers’ father was a cop.
In response to the Blake shooting, NBA teams led a boycott of their games, followed by the WNBA and other leagues. And college football players at the University of Mississippi walked through the campus chanting “Black Lives Matter,” with their white coach.
What is different and what is the same between today and 1968? Again, I’m no expert. But here goes.
The racism is the same. The determination of white America to control the country’s wealth and power for our benefit remains as strong today as ever. With all its ramifications in health care, housing, jobs, wealth creation, land ownership, the racism is the same.
The response to that racism is also much the same. Protest, vulnerability, desperation, lashing out, honor of family. And as with 1968, people of color carry the burden of opening white eyes to the injustice. And the white majority resists seeing what’s in front of us so we can preserve our advantage.
The difference is that some of the economic power and leverage has changed. The wealth machine of the post World War II era has benefitted those with immense talent. Instead of Tommie Smith, we have Lebron James organizing voting efforts, wearing BLM t-shirts at games and organizing boycotts and walk-outs. Their biggest weapon is social media, where James and his colleagues can take their protest viral in 5 minutes.
They canceled playoff games, issued demands on changing police tactics and called for congressional action. NBA arenas are going to be used as giant voting booths on election day. Millions are being donated to causes around racism.
The NFL blackballed Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem, but he could earn a living on the speaking circuit and through an endorsement deal with Nike. Tommie Smith never had that chance and was sent home as punishment for his protest. That’s the difference between 1968 and today, and it’s not nearly enough.
The NBA owners and their thoughtful commissioner, Adam Silver, have recognized the economic power of the black athletes they employ. James and his colleagues could wreck the NBA overnight and hurt the pocketbooks of the mostly-white owners. On the flip-side, James knows that if they don’t play they don’t get paid. And it’s what they do as well. And they do it very well. They want to play the game they love.
So the NBA has entered into a kind of association with Lebron James about valuing black lives once and for all. Sport leagues and other organizations are following. That is different from 1968, when the white power structure fought change at every turn.
Yes, 2020 is different from 1968, but it’s also frighteningly the same. What’s changed is the power differential between Tommie Smith and LeBron James.
Note: Just for the record, Tommie Smith ran the 200 meter dash in 19.5 seconds on a straight cinder track, a record that stood for 44 years. To track people who know, that is truly incredible.
