Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith is an American former track & field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith won the 200-meter dash finals and gold medal in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20-second barrier was broken legally. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium caused controversy at the time as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the African-American...
ProfessionRunner
Date of Birth6 June 1944
CityClarksville, TX
I had no regrets, I have no regrets, I will never have any regrets. We were there to stand up for human rights and to stand up for black Americans. We wanted to make them better in the United States.
Sadly, football in England has declined since we won the World Cup in 1966. Suddenly we had coaches appearing out of drainpipes and we've got players now who are nowhere near as good as players were in the 1960s and '70s. They're possibly fitter, but that's all.
It wasn't done for a malignant reason. It was only done to bring attention to the atrocities of which we were experiencing in a country that was supposed to represent us.
In those days reputation was a big thing. If you could win a game before you went out, win it. That could mean winning it in the papers by saying certain things or by not saying certain things. You got very crafty at the game.
I had to get myself in the world's eye to make my statement.
If I do something good then I am American, but if I do something bad then I am a Negro!
I would not miss an opportunity like this to work with kids for nothing in the world. I flew in from Atlanta for this.
I don't think it's necessary to go to any game to make a stand just because you are there. The stand is made from the heart, and you can do that in the grocery store.
It is very discouraging to be in a team with white athletes. On the track you are Tommie Smith, the fastest man in the world, but once you are in the dressing rooms you are nothing more than a dirty Negro.