Reference no: EM132867485

Athlete activism is nothing new in the realm of sport. In 1936, some U.S. athletes objecting to Hitler's Aryan agenda decided not to make the trip to Berlin to protest Hitler's treatment of the Jewish population. African American athletes at the time, wanted to stand in solidarity with their Jewish brethren because of the discriminatory treatment they were receiving in Germany. Please keep in mind, the was during the Jim Crow era in the U.S. and African American athletes were being discriminated against in the U.S. through segregation.
During the 1936 Olympic games in Germany, the U.S. had an outstanding performance in Berlin and both Black and White athletes competed alongside each other and ended up winning gold for the U.S. Track and field athlete Jesse Owens ended up winning 4 gold medals in Germany and was revered by many, but and was not invited to the White House to meet a U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt along with his White teammates.

In 1967, Boxing Heavy Weight Champion of the world, Muhammad Ali, refused to serve in the U.S. military citing his religious beliefs. Ali wanted to take a stand against social injustice and made it clear that he was not draft dodging, but being a conscious objector, because he did not want to be sent to Vietnam to fight against an oppressed population of people, for a country that didn't recognize his civil rights. He was a controversial figure in the 1960's for his stance and almost went to jail for five years. He boxing license was stripped away from him in his prime and later reinstated three years later. Now Ali is known for his stance on social and racial inequality, even though many saw his stance in the 1960's as divisive and un-American (Ezra, 2003).

The next year, in 1968, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and Peter Norman protested racial inequality during the playing of the U.S. national anthem at the Olympic games in Mexico City, after winning the gold, silver, and bronze medals. The two African American athletes were immediately banned from the U.S. team and not allowed to enter the Olympic village. Peter Norman, an Australian runner who stood in solidarity with Carlos and Smith, was shunned by his own country and not allowed to compete for Australia in the future, even though he qualified to represent Australia in track and field. The 1968 protest was seen as divisive and unacceptable according to the IOC president at the time, but now the image of the trio is viewed as iconic, because of the athletes that stood up for racial inequality.

More recently, Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL athlete who turned political activist, took a knee during the playing of the national anthem during a San Francisco 49'ers game, during the 2016 football season. He took a knew in protest the oppression of Black people and people of color in the U.S. with law enforcement. Kaepernick opted to kneel and not to sit, citing his conversation with a former Green Beret, Nate Boyer who suggested that Kaepernick kneel and not sit, in order to show respect for the flag while at the same time executing a demonstration for his cause, which was Black Lives Matter (Surya, 2019). Many players in the NFL and sports teams across the U.S. started the follow suit and started to kneel with Kaepernick in solidarity to protest police brutality against African Americans in the U.S.

In the following years, Kaepernick was not signed onto an NFL team and ended up filing a grievance with the NFL and accused NFL owners of collusion for keeping him out of the league. In 2019, Kaepernick reached an unknown settlement with the NFL, but has yet to play another game of professional football in the U.S.

How is the story of the 1968 Olympic games similar and different to Colin Kaepernick's story?

Some feel that sport is a place to escape and there is no room for demonstrations. What is one way an athlete can go about having their voice heard by the masses, if they want to stand up for a cause they feel passionate about?