Jesse Owens & Athletes Who Protest (or Don't)

By Rhonda Evans, Assistant Chief Librarian
September 12, 2017
Jesse Owens

 "Jesse Owens." New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Jesse Owens solidified his name as one of the most important athletic figures in American history, not only for his record breaking speed and the four Olympic gold medals he won, but for where and when he won those medals. As an African American, Jesse Owens helped to shatter the beliefs of Aryan superiority in the presence of Adolf Hitler. Owens' gold medals during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin was in itself a symbol of racial equality. However, it was an incredibly similar situation that threw Owens into the midst of controversy thirty-two years later.

Years after Jesse Owens' triumph in Berlin, he was in attendance at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico. On October 16 American athlete Tommie Smith won the 200-meter dash, breaking the world record at the time. Another American, John Carlos, finished third. As the two stepped up onto the podiums to receive their medals the crowd noticed that they had removed their shoes and were wearing black stockings. As the flag raising ceremony began Smith and Carlos, each wearing a black glove on one hand, raised their fists in a Black Power salute and looked towards the ground, creating one of the most memorable moments and photographs in Olympic history. Smith and Carols were suspended and removed from the Olympic Village.

Two black track athletes using the Olympics as a platform for a political protest caused all eyes to turn to Jesse Owens for a comment. Owens did provide his opinion in an interview. He said:

These kids are imbued with the idea that there's a great deal of injustice in our nation. In their own way, they were trying to bring out what is wrong in our country. I told them that the problem certainly belonged in the continental borders of America. This was the wrong battlefield. Their running performances would have done more to alleviate the problem. Rather than the disrespect they showed to our flag and the discourtesy shown to the Mexican Government.

Smith and Carlos

Tommie Smith and John Carlos, 1968 Olympics, Associated Press

The year of 1968 was a time when many African American athletes used their fame to protest inequality in the U.S., and Owens' support of the expulsion of Smith and Carlos instantly created a shadow over his bright image. Columnist Len Lear wrote in the Philadelphia Tribune, "[p]erhaps the saddest footnote to this whole incident was the statement by Jesse Owens himself (you'd think he would have learned his lesson in 1936) in denouncing Smith and Carlos...."

Harry Edwards in his book Revolt of the Black Athlete claimed that Owens had a "ridiculously naive belief in the sanctity of athletics." Many activists of the time rebuked Owens' notion that performance "does more to alleviate the problem." For his speaking out against Smith and Carlos he found himself in the difficult position of a minority athlete caught in turbulent political times. Because of their protests Smith and Carlos were severely punished by the Olympic Committee; by criticizing their protests Owens was rebuked by the community that once looked to him as a hero. Whatever position he took there were consequences.

As Joseph Boskin wrote in his review, Jesse Owens: Running in the American Dilemma, the 1968 Olympics was not the first time Owens was accused of not speaking out enough. Boskin wrote, "[t]hough sharply aware, he raised little fuss when confronted with Jim Crow practices and on more than one occasion cooled the tempers of fellow black athletes about to explode in the face of insult." 

However—as with all things and all people—Jesse Owens' feelings about the 1968 Olympics and his relationship to Civil Rights was much more complex. His feelings of inner conflict were captured in a Washington Post  interview in Mexico a few days after the protests.

"What's your personal feeling about what they [Smith and Carlos] did?"

"They wanted to express themselves and they did," said the man who has been called a middle-of-the-roader by some other Negroes. "It's their Bible?"

"Is it also Jesse Owens' Bible?"

"Not exactly," he answered slowly, deliberately. "The way I feel about it is I won't get angry at your opinion but don't get angry with me when I express mine. I may not feel exactly as those boys do, but I can understand why they feel the way they do."....Jesse Owens' eyes narrowed. His inner emotions began coming to the surface and it was hard for him to convey them exactly the way he wanted to because on one hand he firmly believes in the tradition of the Olympics and on the other he firmly believes in the excruciatingly difficult struggle of the Negro."

The Sun, October 30, 1968

In the years following the 1968 Olympics, Jesse Owens continued to grapple with his beliefs in two memoirs. In 1970 he wrote Blackthink: My Life as a Black Man and White Man. Then in 1972 he wrote I Have Changed.  Jesse Owens is proudly claimed by Americans as the Olympic athlete who humiliated Adolph Hitler, but perhaps it the time period after his wins and his increasingly complex relationship to race and sports that are just as compelling as his record breaking sprints.

This blog post was researched entirely using NYPL's electronic resources. With more than 500 online research options available, many accessible from home with a library card, we challenge you to go beyond the search engine and dig deeper online with NYPL. 

Resources

  • Anonymous. "Track Trials Carlos Track and Field." 05 July 2008. EBSCOhost.
  • Associated Press. "Owens Backs Action Against Smith, Carlos." Boston Globe (1960-1985): 28. Oct 30 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.
  • Associated Press. "Owens Expects Demonstrations to Cease." Boston Globe (1960-1985): 30. Oct 18 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.
  • Boskin, Joseph. “Jesse Owens: Running in the American Dilemma.” Reviews in American History, vol. 15, no. 3, 1987, pp. 455–459. JSTOR.
  • Casey, Larry. "SPORTS LEDGER." Chicago Daily Defender (Daily Edition) (1960-1973): 38. Nov 14 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017 .
  • "Clenched Fist Smith, Carlos make History." Call and Post (1962-1982), City edition ed.: 1. Oct 26 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017 .
  • Conner, John W. “The English Journal.” The English Journal, vol. 61, no. 9, 1972, pp. 1383–1383. JSTOR.
  • George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Jesse Owens." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 
  • "Jesse Owens." Notable Sports Figures, edited by Dana R. Barnes, Gale, 2004. Biography in Context. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
  • "Jesse Owens Raps Boycott." Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005): 1. Feb 15 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.
  • Lear, Len. "Slings and Arrows." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001): 7. Nov 05 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.
  • "OWENS BACKS EXPULSION." The Sun (1837-1991): 1. Oct 30 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.
  • "Owens Lauds Negro Stars at Olympics." Call and Post (1962-1982), City edition ed.: 1. Nov 16 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.
  • Richman, Milton. "Pride, Prejudice Affect Owens Anew." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Oct 20 1968. ProQuest. Web. 8 Sep. 2017.