Today I learned...
The white man in this photo was Peter Norman from Australia who finished 2nd the 1968 200m final. Norman stood in solidarity with the American Black athletes. It was Norman who suggested, when discovered they only had 1 pair of gloves, to each wear one. (cont)
The white man in this photo was Peter Norman from Australia who finished 2nd the 1968 200m final. Norman stood in solidarity with the American Black athletes. It was Norman who suggested, when discovered they only had 1 pair of gloves, to each wear one. (cont)
Norman asked them if they had another Olympic Project For Human Rights badge that he could wear while he stood with them. They didn't, but another Olympian, white American rower Paul Hoffman, did and loaned it to Norman. (cont)
Tommie Smith and John Carlos would be suspended from the Olympic team, stripped of their medals and expelled from the Olympic Village. The rower, Hoffman, was accused of conspiring with them.
Norman would be ostracized from the Australian team which had its own Apartheid. (cont)
Norman would be ostracized from the Australian team which had its own Apartheid. (cont)
He would not be able to compete in the 1972 Olympics and was repeatedly given the opportunity to redeem himself by condemning Smith and Carlos. He remained ostracized even during the 2000 Sydney Games, even though he still holds the Australian record set in 1968. (cont)
Peter Norman died suddenly in 2006 of a heart attack. Among his pall bearers were Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who remained good friends with Norman throughout the years. (cont)
In 2012, the Australian government officially apologized to Norman, admitting what they'd done to keep him off of the '72 team was wrong and recognizing his achievements. (cont)
At San Jose State University, a statue of Smith and Carlos was erected. Carlos said Norman wanted the 2nd place podium to be empty, so that people could come and stand there themselves, to stand in solidarity with Smith and Carlos as he had in 1968.
(cont)
(cont)
So the only thing I have to promote here is listening to other people, Black voices, Indigenous voices, LGBTQ+ voices, other people of color's voices.
I'm a white guy. You've heard enough from us. Be a Peter Norman. Stand with them and let the spotlight shine on them for a while
I'm a white guy. You've heard enough from us. Be a Peter Norman. Stand with them and let the spotlight shine on them for a while
