The late 1960's was a period of tumultuous uproar and uncertainty. Using the "World of Crayola Crayons" as an analogy, the two primary colors that were at the center of this turmoil were black and white. For illustration purposes, let's say someone takes a black crayon and draws a straight line on a white piece of paper. Now, if someone handed you the piece of paper and told you to analyze it, what would your first thought be? What the heck is a black line doing on the white piece of paper, right? Although this example may be perceived as childish, from a humanitarian standpoint, it demonstrates the position that America was in during the 1960's. At the pinnacle of the sixties were the assassinations of J.F.K., Malcolm X, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Then of course there was the establishment of the United Farm Workers Association by Cesar Chavez. And don't forget about the hippie movement, the Cuban Missle Crisis, the emergence of the infamous Motown sound, and the first men to walk on the moon. Ahhh... and finally, who could forget the valiant, yet controversial display of black pride exhibited by John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968

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After graduating from San Jose State University, Tommie Smith played professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals for three years. He later became a track coach at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also taught sociology, and at Santa Monica College in California. Tommie Smith was a man who began his college career with the mindset of many young athletes who just want their name to be known, they want to be made famous for their athletic accomplishments. Smith, however was one of two men willing to put that dream in the background while seeking to be noticed for something much more valuable, equality for himself and his fellow black Americans.

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Smith competed for San Jose State College in California, and in the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City and won the gold medal for the 200-meter race, however, he and his teammate John Carlos, were suspended by the United Stated Olympic Committee and ordered to leave Mexico for giving a "black power" salute while receiving their awards. This medal ceremony has been described as the most popular, and politically charged medal ceremony of all time. The photographs of two African American sprinters standing on the medal podium with heads bowed and fists raised proved to be a huge milestone in America's civil rights movement. The notion presented was that Smith and Carlos were perhaps motivated by the suggestion of a friend of the two men, a young sociologist by the name of Harry Edwards. Edwards had asked them as well as all of the other African American athletes to join together and boycott the games. It was Edward's hope that the protest would bring attention to the fact that America's civil rights movement had not gone far e

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