The 1968 Olympic Black Power Salute: Image, Truth, and Protest

There are numerous sensational images in the media, particularly as social media has enabled instantaneous reproduction of memes in popular culture. Even before the internet era, sensational images spread relatively rapidly through film, television, and print media such as daily newspapers and weekly or monthly magazines. These images convey various meanings and signify different things to different audiences. A perfect example of how one image can carry divergent meanings and connotations across audience groups is the 1968 photograph taken of American Olympic athletes using the Black Power salute. The original image captured by John Dominis has left an indelible mark on the American public and sparked an international sensation. It emerged during the Civil Rights era, when celebrity Black athletes leveraged their fame to raise awareness about racism and unfair treatment in their home country. This moment represents the intersection of media, social justice, and law. In this image, Tommie Smith and John Carlos hold their hands high, forming fists as they wear black gloves. This symbolic gesture represents the central icon of the Black Power movement's flag, signifying unity among people of color and the collective power they can wield when working together.

The Dominis photograph captures several deliberately chosen elements: the men wearing black socks and no shoes. Their clothing choices represent the lack of support given to Black athletes compared to their white counterparts and underscore the vast disparities between white and Black Americans—disparities extending far beyond sports. At the press conference following the medal ceremony, Smith admitted that not wearing shoes symbolized "black poverty in racist America." In every arena of American public life, such instances of inequality appear: in public schools with differential resources provided to predominantly Black versus white institutions. When the photograph was taken, the Civil Rights era was at its peak, ending decades of legalized segregation but unfortunately not ending centuries of overt, systematic, and institutionalized racism. The image remains powerful in the 21st century because Americans have failed to learn the lessons of the past. Current images similar to the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics include those connected to the "Black Lives Matter" movement protesting unfair police treatment.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos also bowed their heads in a moment of silence while on the podium—another physical gesture captured by Dominis in this iconic image. The gesture of bowing the head signals the disillusionment and shame felt toward a nation that professes values of liberty, justice, equality, and freedom. The athletes protested national hypocrisy and challenged Americans to understand their cause rather than fear Black Power. A sensational image like this one not only impresses through its visual and aesthetic qualities but also influences how people think about the world, their values, biases, and worldviews. The Black Power salute photograph from the 1968 Olympics demonstrates that the true value of images does not lie in the technical tools photographers use or the sophistication of composition and lighting. Rather, the genuine value of images resides in how they touch the hearts and minds of audiences and inspire action or political change.

From the perspective of a photographer or any other artist or journalist, capturing sensational images is challenging. It is not something one can necessarily plan. In this case, Dominis likely did not know in advance that these athletes would pose in such a manner; the image capture was spontaneous and surprising. The public response partly resulted from this element of surprise, because the gesture took place during an award ceremony at the Olympics—an international stage watched by viewers worldwide. The entire world witnessed that not all Americans were satisfied with their lives and felt compelled to use their achievement to draw attention to a social cause. Olympic photographers generally anticipate capturing pure victory and the faces of proud champions, not images of athletes ashamed of how their people had been treated.

Photographers must use different colors and angles to capture facial expressions and actions in their subjects. Each photographer brings unique approaches to portrait and people photography, along with distinctive insights into photographic tools and techniques. This image was taken in black and white film at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. John Dominis was an American documentary and war photographer, meaning he had already encountered political actions in his subjects. The subtlety of the political action embedded in this photograph partly explains its fame. These two athletes had just won awards in the name of a nation that had enslaved their ancestors and sponsored segregation against them. Moreover, they had won despite these obstacles and overcome significant barriers to achievement. The Black Power salute underscores the magnitude of their accomplishments. The picture became known as the "1968 Olympics Black Power Salute" and became one of Dominis's most famous works. It has become a permanent part of American history—a piece of documentary evidence comparable to a presidential speech.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos were Olympic sprinters. Smith earned the gold medal and Carlos the bronze. What the photograph cannot capture is the audio dimension. As the image was being taken, the American national anthem played over the stadium's loudspeaker system. The entire world listened to the American national anthem while watching these two athletes perform a subtle, subversive act: instead of placing their hands on their hearts in typical patriotic fashion, they bowed their heads and raised their black-gloved fists. The fists raised in the Black Power salute symbolized a direct statement against the laws, politics, and policies of racism in the United States. Their salute also represented union and solidarity with their compatriots at home who daily experienced the effects of overt and institutionalized racism.

Racism has been one of the defining features of the United States since before the nation's founding, when the trans-Atlantic slave trade ensured that a Black underclass would be created. The end of slavery required a Civil War, so deeply entrenched was racism in American consciousness. Moreover, the official end of slavery did not end racism. For too long, Americans had believed that persons of color were inferior human beings. The Constitution had to be changed to allow Black people and women to vote, because these groups were deemed lesser than white males. Therefore, racial inequality has been a fundamental problem in American society since its inception. Despite substantial progress in creating a more egalitarian society—including the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s—issues of race, ethnicity, and discrimination persist today. Many problems remain in areas like unequal treatment in law enforcement and a general denial that racism exists at all. Some of the most fundamental problems minorities still face deal primarily with finding equal opportunity in the workplace and in society generally. Because minorities face unequal employment opportunities even today, subsidiary consequences include backlash against affirmative action, which exists precisely because many white Americans do not recognize white privilege. Racism has created a great divide along lines of race and socio-economic class, factors inextricably linked in America.