San Jose State University’s Victory Salute, also known as the Olympic Black Power Statue, depicts the 1968 Mexico City Olympics Black Power salute displayed by runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the playing of the national anthem after they won the gold and bronze medals in the 200 meter race. The protest was seen by more than 80 million households around the world.
The silver medal was won by Australian Peter Norman, who asked that his space on the statue’s podium remain vacant so that others could stand where he stood and feel what he felt Both Smith and Carlos had been San Jose State students.
The two US athletes received their medals shoeless, in black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf to represent black pride, Carlos unzipped his tracksuit jacket to show solidarity with all blue-collar workers. He also wore a necklace of beads which he said “were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the Middle Passage.” All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges.
The OPHR was a movement to leverage the Olympics and the power of Black athletes to highlight abuses on human and civil rights in the U.S. Martin Luther King had been assassinated earlier that year, and many cities in the U.S. were experiencing violent civil unrest. The campaign was originally conceived as a boycott: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then still known as Lew Alcindor, refused to try out for the Olympic basketball team, saying he was “trying to point out to the world the futility of winning the gold medal for this country and then coming back to live under oppression.”
The statue was envisioned by a student at San Jose State in 2002. He pitched it to the University’s Associated Students board, who raised more than $300,000 for the project. It was unveiled to the public on October 17, 2005. A panel discussion was held featuring Smith and Carlos and Norman, In 2008 this plaque was added:
At the México City 1968 Olympic Games,
San José State University Student-Athletes
Tommie Smith and John Carlos
Stood for
Justice, Dignity, Equality, and Peace.
Hereby the University and Associated Students
Commemorate their Legacy.
These were the first statues commissioned from Portuguese-American artist Rigo23. The statues are constructed from fiberglass over steel supports and covered with ceramic tiles. There is a bronze sculpture of this event at National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
San Antonio note: John Carlos was the guest speaker at the San Antonio MLK wreath laying ceremony in 2017. Cynthia Teniente-Matson, former president of Texas A&M University–San Antonio is currently (2024) president of San José State University.
