For USA sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, running the 200m men's final in the 1968 Olympics was the easy part. When Smith and Carlos took to the medal stand to receive their respective gold and bronze medals, they used the moment to bring awareness to the mistreatment of black Americans. As the American national anthem played, the two men bowed their heads and raised a gloved black fist into the night air.
Both men were unaware that the consequences of their silent gesture would be swift and grave. They were kicked off the Olympic team and sent back to a country that rejected their actions and explanations. Forty years later, and only weeks before the 2008 Games, Smith and Carlos received the Arthur Ashe Award. After years of discussion and social ratification, Smith and Carlos can finally take their rightful place among sports' greatest heroes.
Arthur Ashe Award
The Ashe Award is one of the most prestigious in sports. Recipients reflect the spirit of Arthur Ashe, possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost. The award is inspired by the life that Ashe lived, using his fame and stature to advocate for human rights, although, at the time, those positions may have been unpopular and were often controversial. From speaking out against apartheid in South Africa to revealing to the world his struggle with AIDS, Ashe never backed away from a difficult issue, even though doing so would have been easier. Winners of the Ashe Award strive to carry on Ashe's legacy in their own lives - - inspired by those who do so each day.