Mexico City,was the site of the 1968 Summer Olympics. The Black athletes were not at all happy. They wanted equal treatment as Americans. Before the Olympics, the Black athletes had threated to boycott and not attend the games. They later decided that they would attend.

The issue was "racism." Blacks were not treated equally here in the USA. Two athletes would demonstrate to the world that all was not well in the US. Black athletes were tired of the treatment they received at home. "White America will only give us credit for an Olympic victory," Tommie Smith said at the time. "They'll say I'm an American, but if I did something bad, they'd say a Negro."

Tommie Smith and John Carlos won their races, placing first and third in the 200 meters. In front of millions of TV viewers, as the National Anthem played, they bowed their heads and raised their arms, wearing black gloves with fist closed.

This protest shocked the world. The Olympic committee gave the two athletes 48 hours to leave the games. There were more protests but on smaller scales; some atlethes wore black socks. George Foreman carried a small Olympic flag around after winnning his fight with Ionas Chepulis.