Paris, June 11, 2024, by Socrates George Kazolias

Tommie Smith shocked the world of sports when, after winning the two-hundred-meter Gold Medal in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he raised a black-gloved fist and bowed his head during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner to protest discrimination in the United States. Third-placed African American, John Carlos, did the same.

But that display of protest to racism in America almost never happened. John Carlos “forgot to bring his black gloves” even though they had planned it before. So, Tommie gave Carlos his other glove and that is why Tommie has his right gloved fist raised while Carlos his left.

“I question to this day what is the reason for the possibility he forgot his gloves in the first place,” Tommie told reporters of the Anglo-American Press Association on June 11^th. “We all have flawed minds, but I feel if you have events such as this, you can’t forget.”