Introduction
The Olympic Games are no exception to the rule that sports have historically been a reflection of society. Tensions and conflicts have permeated the world of sports, from Nazi propaganda at the 1936 Berlin Olympics to Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Athletes have reacted to these concerns differently; some have suffered consequences, while others have emerged as icons of change and resistance. Furthermore, American foreign policy’s influence on the Olympics still adds another level of complication to this already complex problem. This essay will examine the notion that the Olympic Games are more than just competitions; different influences have helped make this notion a reality.
Racism in Sports
The Nazi Olympics: African-American Athletes
There is much more to the Olympic Games than mere competition between the world’s top athletes. Politics, protest, and racism have all been on show throughout the Olympics. This was evident at the 1936 Berlin Olympics during Adolf Hitler’s rule over Germany (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 1)). The Berlin Olympics served as a platform for Germany to display its superiority and Aryan race beliefs.
Jesse Owens and other African American athletes experienced racism and prejudice under the Nazi government (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 1)). Despite this, Owens won four gold medals in the track and field competitions, refuting Hitler’s assertion that the Aryans were better (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 1)). However, there was no specific regard for success for people like Owen and others like him, showing the high levels of racism that existed in the era.
Injustices caused by racism and prejudice have also been denounced by using the Olympic Games as a platform. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists at the medal ceremony on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 as a silent protest against racism in the U.S. (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 1)). The lack of advancement in racial equality in the U.S. and the civil rights struggle prompted this protest. This potent example demonstrated to the world that the Olympic Games are more than simply competitions; they can also be used to make a point.
Throughout history, political remarks have been made using the Olympics as a platform. The boycotts of the Olympics in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984 exemplify how U.S. foreign policy has influenced the Olympics (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 1)). The Olympic Games served as a stage for the U.S. and the Soviet Union to present their political views throughout the Cold War.
The Nazi Olympics provided a platform for Hitler to demonstrate his belief in the superiority of the Aryan race, according to the narrator of the YouTube documentary “The Nazi Olympics: African-American Athletes (Part 1).” The racism and prejudice African-American athletes encountered at the Berlin Olympics are proof of this unfairness. The narrator adds, “Jesse Owens disproved Hitler’s theory of Aryan supremacy and achieved four gold medals” (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 1)). This quotation demonstrates how the Olympics may be utilized to make a statement and alter how racism and prejudice are portrayed.
The 1936 Berlin Olympics served as a sobering reminder that the Olympics are more than just competitions. The Nazi Party secretly seized power in Germany, significantly impacting the games. According to the description of the film, “The German government was very keen to use the Olympics as a showcase for the new Nazi regime” (The Nazi Olympics: African American Athletes (Part 2)). This meant that African American athletes could compete in the games and disprove the Nazis’ theories of racial supremacy.
One of the most well-known African American athletes at the 1936 Olympics was Jesse Owens, whose triumph was viewed as a significant challenge to Nazi ideology. While he received four gold medals and was praised worldwide, the Nazi regime in Germany was not as hospitable (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 2)). Regardless of his success, he was never invited to the victory celebrations by Adolf Hitler, and neither could he shake his hand. This blatantly illustrated the bigotry that permeated the Olympic Games and demonstrated that they were more than just competitions.
A platform for protesting racism and politics was offered by the Mexico City Olympics in 1960. Tommie Smith and John Carlos famously protested at the 200-meter sprint medal ceremony (The Nazi Olympics: African-American athletes (part 2)). They gave the black power salute by raising their fists, making a powerful statement about the persistent racism in the world. The two athletes were punished and exiled when the U.S. Olympic Committee acted swiftly. This served as a reminder that the Olympic Games are more than simply competitions; they also provide a forum for athletes to voice their views on significant subjects.
The Olympic Games were shaped in part by U.S. foreign policy. According to the video’s description, “The U.S. government had made it clear that politics and protests were not welcome in the Olympics” (The Nazi Olympics: African American Athletes (Part 2)). In addition to the U.S. government being able to influence how the games were perceived internationally, players had to exercise caution in conveying their ideas. This demonstrated that the Olympics were more than just athletic competitions; they served as a vehicle for the U.S. administration to communicate its foreign policy.
A Mexico City Documentary I NBC Olympics
During the medal ceremony, the Black Power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos was a powerful statement against racial discrimination and injustice. But their protest was just the tip of the iceberg. Black athletes faced numerous hurdles in their careers, including discrimination in access to training facilities and competitions, unequal pay, and limited opportunities for advancement (1968 – A Mexico City documentary I NBC Olympics). The lack of diversity in sports leadership and media coverage further perpetuates racial biases and stereotypes. Black athletes in Mexico City had added difficulties, such as high altitude and thin air, which impacted their performance (1968 – A Mexico City documentary I NBC Olympics). Black athletes were placed in inadequate housing compared to their white counterparts in the Olympic Village, which was segregated.
Berlin in 1936
Athletes from all over the world gather at the Olympic Games to compete in the spirit of fair play, which has long been seen as a symbol of unification and intercultural peace. The games are frequently more than just games, as Bill Murray’s piece Berlin in 1936: Old and New Work on the Nazi Olympics demonstrates. As Murray’s article describes, the Nazi administration extensively politicized the 1936 Berlin Olympics (Murray 29). This political exploitation of the Olympic Games is a potent reminder that they are more than just competitions; they also serve as a window into the social and political tensions inside and between nations (Murray 29).
The Berlin Olympics of 1936 provided the Nazi regime with an excellent platform to display its goals. Athletes were made to salute the Nazi anthem during the opening and closing ceremonies as part of the Nazi propaganda that pervaded the whole game (Murray 30). The Nazis attempted to link the modern games in Berlin with the ancient Olympiads in Greece by extensively politicizing the Olympic Torch Relay. Nazi leaders also tried to utilize the Olympics to promote their racial beliefs, saying that German athletes were better than those from other nations.
The fact that the U.S. flag was not hoisted during the opening ceremony of the 1936 Berlin Olympics serves as a vivid reminder of the bigotry and xenophobia pervasive in the sports world at the time. According to Murray (32) in his essay, this purposeful rejection of the U.S. and its foreign policy by the Nazi dictatorship manifested the pervasive racism and xenophobia ingrained in athletics for years. The Olympics were no exception to the anti-Semitic and racial attitudes prevalent in numerous sports. Furthermore, sports saw the removal of the U.S. flag to denigrate the U.S. and its foreign policy (Murray, 33). The Nazis had a long history of establishing laws that served their interests.
Nevertheless, the Nazis did not exclusively attack the U.S. during the Olympics. Other countries and athletes of various races were also discriminated against, such as the African-American athletes who endured racial epithets and were denied the opportunity to compete against their white counterparts on an equal footing. Murray (29) claims that “the Berlin Games were a triumph for the Nazi regime, not the triumph of crass jingoism or the subdued menace of the Nuremberg rallies, but of a nation confident in its direction, of a leader adored by his people, and a people-friendly and outgoing towards foreigners, regardless of race.” This claim demonstrates how the Nazis were able to use the Olympics for their political ends while still acting cordially toward the other participating nations. The Nazis made a strong and unmistakable message about their stance on foreign affairs by not flying the American flag during the opening ceremony.
As the U.S. was perceived as a nation of people with various ethnic backgrounds and viewpoints, this reflected their racist thoughts and beliefs. A striking example of how racism was employed as a tool of political control was banning the U.S. flag, which was seen as a symbolic act of exclusion and hostility toward the U.S. and its citizens. According to Murray (30), the Nazi government exploited the 1936 Olympics to “mask the more brutal realities of a regime” and give the impression that the nation was normal while it was anything but. This covered how Jews and other inferior races were treated, kept hidden, and prohibited from participating in the games.
Moreover, while other nations, such as the United States and Britain, opposed the games because of the racism and prejudice practiced by the Nazi administration, they ultimately had little capacity to do so. The Nazis promoted their ideology, noting how they “turned on lavish social occasions” for foreign guests and journalists to give the impression of a normal, functioning society (Murray, 33). However, Hart-Davis’s account reveals that this was far from the truth, as he “passes to the Orienberg camp, just a few miles from where the games were being staged, to describe some of the bestial punishments being inflicted on men who had been convicted of no crime” (Murray 33). This further highlights how the Nazis used the games to mask the true nature of their regime.
Furthermore, the racism that black athletes faced in their nations was prevalent at the games. The Canadian Olympic team’s accommodation in London was closed after it was learned that two members were black (Murray 34). The Nazi government aggressively sought to create racial hate, in sharp contrast to this. The article also notes that although American blacks were prohibited from speaking out for their race, some Jews found comfort and joy in the black athletes’ achievements in the games (Murray 32). As a result, the story demonstrates how prejudice in athletics also existed outside of the Nazi dictatorship.
The Nazis were crafty and determined to keep any race they disliked out of the games. According to Murray (40), “There is nothing wrong with the movie [Olympics] being a glorification of the games, and incidentally of the country that ran them so flawlessly.” He continues by stating that “what is missing… is unbalanced” and draws attention to the lack of any mention of Jews being denied entry to the games due to Nazi deceit (Murray 40). This illustrates both the prejudice of the occasion and the administration that forbade Jews from competing in the Olympic Games.
Murray emphasizes the racism of the Nazi system further by stating that “even if Riefenstahl herself was no Nazi and, as the film and her later work show, was no racist (unless a fascination for exotic bodies and noble savages can be seen this way)” (Murray 40) The implication here is that the Nazi dictatorship was fascinated by exotic or “other” bodies and that this fascination might be viewed as a sort of racism.
Murray adds, “Owens is praised, but had he been a Jew, he would not have had the same coverage, four medals or not” (Murray 40). This reflects the prejudice against the Olympics and the Nazi administration, which prohibited Jews from competing. Murray added, “Blacks were certainly Untermenschen, but they did not evoke the same pathological hysteria in Germany as Jews” (Murray 40). This remark exemplifies the prejudice against the Olympics and the Nazi dictatorship, which discriminated against Jews and other minorities.
The Politics of Race and Sport
Although these protest tactics, or cultural venues, frequently fail to have an impact, they are crucial for giving people a place to air their frustrations and rally support. Hartmann offers the 1968 African American Olympic protest movement as an example for his thesis. In an act of defiance against racism, two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, raised their fists while standing on the victory platform during the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games’ awards ceremony (Hartmann 556). Their acts sparked a tremendous amount of national criticism and were quite contentious. Though the action had little real impact, it was nonetheless a significant demonstration of black pride and unity in the face of prejudice.
Furthermore, even if it frequently fails to result in substantive change, cultural resistance is a crucial kind of resistance to racism. “On the one hand, cultural arenas offer racial and ethnic minorities their most tangible and direct access to, and influence in, mainstream society; on the other hand, this cultural capital seems to produce very little in the way of substantial social change, and may ultimately reinforce the very injustices and inequalities that these disempowered groups mean to confront and contest in the first place (Hartmann 549). This suggests that cultural forms of resistance can still be crucial for airing complaints and galvanizing support, even though they may not be effective in producing noticeable effects.
African American athletes such as Tommie Smith and Kenneth Noel tried to use sport as a platform for racial justice in the United States through the Olympic Project for Human Rights [OPHR] boycott. Despite their efforts, the campaign received harsh criticism from the people, the government, and the media. Avery Brundage’s statement that Smith and Carlos’s conduct was “an insult to their Mexican hosts and a disgrace to the United States” proves this (Hartmann 554).
Furthermore, Smith and Carlos’s demonstration is described as “an embarrassment visited upon the country” and “an act contemptuous of the United States” in Brent Musburger’s opinion on the incident in the Chicago American (Hartmann 555). This demonstrates the degree of condemnation the protest received from the general population, ultimately resulting in Smith and Carlos’ expulsion from the Olympic Village and suspension from the Olympic competition.
These reactions in the media and from the general public show how pervasive racism is in athletics. The fact that the public rejected Smith and Carlos’ protest despite their best efforts shows how deeply ingrained racism was in American society at the time. The difference between the response to Smith and Carlos’s protest and the joyous celebration of George Foreman’s raising of a small American flag in the ring following his gold medal victory in the heavyweight boxing competition is more proof of this (Hartmann 556). This demonstrates the unfair treatment of the two players and emphasizes how racism was still pervasive in sports at the time.
The protest was perceived as posing a serious threat to the system of racial relations and conditions of social order involved in these events, based on the vehement rhetoric and responses to the Smith/Carlos demonstration. The paper also discloses that none of the criticisms of the demonstration were explicitly racial or politically motivated. Instead, the overwhelming majority advanced some variation of the argument that athletics was insufficiently appropriate for such a protest.
The author Hartmann (558) notes that “somehow, athletes, coaches, writers, and spectators seemed to believe that there was something special or even sacred about the sport that precluded it from serving as a site for racial protest; indeed, many went as far as to portray these demonstrations as an attack upon sport itself.” The notion that sports are somehow unrelated to politics and social issues exposes how racism in sports is sustained. The article also looks at the relationship between this viewpoint and the liberal democratic ideology, which maintains that all innovation, process, and order originate from free individuals and that a successful synthesis of these two ideals is necessary for social advancement, interethnic harmony, and the creation of the best “good society.”
Conclusion
The Olympic Games are more than just competitions; they are also a window into global conflicts and socioeconomic tensions. The sports world has seen the effects of politics and racism in both Mexico in the 1960s and Berlin in the 1930s. Many times at considerable personal expense, athletes such as Jesse Owens, John Carlos, and Tommie Smith have used their platforms to raise awareness of these issues. U.S. foreign policy also significantly influences the Olympics, underscoring the link between sports and politics. Therefore, it is critical to grasp the Olympics’ significance beyond purely recreational purposes and their potential to bring to light larger societal challenges.
Works Cited
“1968 – A Mexico City Documentary I NBC Olympics.” YouTube, Web.
Hartmann, Douglas. “The Politics of Race and Sport: Resistance and Domination in the 1968 African American Olympic Protest Movement.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 19, no. 3, 1996, pp. 548–566., Web.
Murray, Bill. “Berlin in 1936: Old and New Work on the Nazi Olympics.” The International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 9, no. 1, 1992, pp. 29–49., Web.
“The Nazi Olympics: African-American Athletes (Part 1).” YouTube, YouTube, Web.
“The Nazi Olympics: African-American Athletes (Part 2).” YouTube, YouTube, Web.