Web Letters: Why He Fears the Fist: A Response to Jonah Goldberg

"Jonah, Jonah, Jonah--you ignorant slut!" to paraphrase the Dan Ackroyd/Jane Curtin skit of early SNL. But it is to be expected from the ideological spawn of the Lucianne/Nixon/Pat Buchanan era. Can you imagine the bedtime stories with which Goldberg was lulled to sleep? Great article to demonstrate Goldberg's lax intellect and childish motives. When reading articles of his and others of his ilk I always sense their childish pissed-off-ness, as if they are still being chosen last for some schoolyard games. Baby minds emit baby cries.

Dan Trevallee

Ashland, OR

So Zirin gives accolades to Smith and Carlos for raising their fists to protest, among other things, the "state-sanctioned" racism of South Africa and Rhodesia. But what about the state-sanctioned teror existing at the time in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and most of the Middle East? But, hey, if a black athlete raises his fist for Black Power that's so cool, so fashionable, so, well, liberal. Forget, for instance, the Gulag. Nope, I don't buy it, it won't wash.

Charles Jackson

Atlanta, GA

Dave Zirin's piece is timely and an excellent response to the sort of disposable junk media that contaminates tabloid platforms in most major cities.

The original article probably had no space to mention the firm support given to the gold and bronze medal winners on the podium by the fastest-ever Australian over 200m, Peter Norman.

A quiet and dignified athlete from a Salvation Army household (I doubt if Bobby Seale and Eldridge Cleaver were much a part of their lives), Peter Norman shared the protest by wearing the same human rights (anti-apartheid) badge as Carlos and Smith, and his career was ended.

The Australian Olympic officials decided to send no one to the 1972 Olympics for the 200m and gave no place to Norman in the relay--rather than allow a political gesture, in solidarity with the raised fist protesters, to go unpunished by the powers that be.

Extract from interview transcript from Australian Government/Public broadcast (ABC TV):

PETER NORMAN: All of a sudden I'm one of the eight best 200m in the world for that particular day and it's all about to be put to the test.

GREG HOY: The race was to last just 20 seconds. But the build up had been highly charged politically. America had six months prior witnessed the assassination of Martin Luther King and the black unrest that triggered.

MUHAMMAD ALI (NEWSREEL): You look at Miss Universe, you see white. You look at Miss World, you see white. You look at Tarzan, who is the King of the Jungle, you see white.

GREG HOY: Black athletes had formed the Olympic Project for Human Rights and vowed to use success on the track and field to spread their message. As two black Americans took the lead in the race race, the lone Australian came from behind with astonishing speed to divide them at the finish line. First, Tommie Smith, USA, in world record time, second Australia's Peter Norman, third, John Carlos USA.

GREG HOY: He wasn't that far behind you.

TOMMIE SMITH: And he was coming on me. Peter Norman's speed magnified over the last 40m because of his tenacity and power. He was a very powerful runner.

GREG HOY: What happened next would burn an indelible image in the history of sport.

MATT NORMAN: They asked if Peter would mind if they made this their time for a gesture. Peter completely supported it and said, "Well, if there's anything I can do, you let me know."

B.A. Brown

Brisbane, Australia

Thank you for an excellent article.

The "man in the middle" on the podium in 1968 was an Australian runner, Peter Norman. He wore an OPHR badge and fully supported the action of Carlos and Smith. It was Norman who suggested they share gloves after one of the black runners left his behind, which is why one was a right fist and one a left. Norman was later ostracized by the Australian Olympic authorities and not selected for the Munich Olympics, despite running the best times for the 400m in Australia. When he died in 2006 Carlos and Smith were among his pall-bearers and spoke very movingly at his funeral.

Chris Gow

Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Many thanks to Dave Zirin for bringing attention to Goldberg's lame attempt to re-write history. I was a Coke-chugging white kid in Middle America when Carlos and Smith raised their fists, and I was vaguely aware that they had reasons to be upset. Of course I didn't know that they Avery Brundage was one of them, but I knew that King had been murdered by people who didn't like blacks. I knew of the ghetto downtown, I knew that there was something going on that didn't agree with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. True Americans honor the courage of Carlos and Smith. Zirin, in keeping their memory alive, does us all a service.

Paul Abbott

Frankfurt a. M. , Germany