CA: San Jose State students want statue honoring Olympic salute

Sac Bee ^ | 5/15/03 | Juliana Barbassa - AP

[NormsRevenge]

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Thirty-five years after sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos bowed their heads and raised their fists on the Olympic podium in a black power salute, students at their alma mater want to honor their controversial gesture with a statue.

[Blue Screen of Death]

"I was vilified overnight," said Carlos, now a track coach and counselor at Palm Springs High School. "Friends walked away, job opportunities were not there, I couldn't pay my bills. My first wife took her life in part because of what happened."

If action then consequences.

[jimkress]

Fine. Buy your own land and fund the design, construction, and installation of the statue on your land, not public property.

[ysoitanly]

Oh, this one has me steamed all right. It's phone call and letter time. 'Activists' are now defined as anyone who spits on this country and then screams 'First Amendment' every time (and wins). More hidden reparations concessions is what this is. We're paying while 'not actually' paying, by giving in EVERY TIME to these types of demands. I'm SICK OF IT!!

[VOA]

The image of two athletes raising black-gloved fists in the air as the U.S. flag was raised

(I say this seeking input from the forum...)
IIRC, one of the two athletes
basically had ZERO support during his training for the Olympics...and had to
wait until about midnite to climb over a fence into a stadium/field with a decent
track in order to train.

I'm not supportive of the gesture they made...but maybe understand a bit of the
frustration that motivated it.

These two fellows just didn't have the good graces of a Jesse Owens or a Tiger Woods
to understand that you need to woo people to your cause...no matter how just it may be.

[NormsRevenge]

Ahh, San Jose. Remember Quetzalcoatl and the $500,000 "statue" to the serpent god?

[ysoitanly]

Looks JUST like what it really is - was that from a Great Dane or something? ;)

[Carry_Okie]

I've just got to get a photo of the mist condensing in the air above that statue, rising from the evaporating dew when it's hit by the morning sun.

The definitive steaming pile!

[VivaVilla]

Is spitting on this country and criticizing it the same thing to you?

[dead]

"What they did changed the way we look at sports and its relation to society," said Edwards, now head of Oakland's Parks and Recreation Department.

Possibly, but not for the better.

It helped give athletes (and society) the idea that the opinions of people who can run fast or jump high are more important than the opinions of people who can flip burgers, balance books, or pave roads.

Why no statues for them?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

What is that?

[NormsRevenge]

Quetzalcoatl-Serpent God.. LOL