MEDA 18621G: History of Protest in Sports and Social Issues

This report provides a detailed analysis of the history of protest in sports, focusing primarily on racial and social justice issues. It begins by examining the 1968 Olympics protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, highlighting the context of racial and communal tensions, and their symbolic gesture of...Read More

Running Head: HISTORY OF PROTEST IN SPORTS
History of Protest in Sports
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1HISTORY OF PROTEST IN SPORTS
The report states the political tensions in the domain of sports mainly due to the racial
and the communal factors. Specifically, it highlights about the incident of 1968 on 16th of
October, where there was a clash between the African and the American athletes liken John
Carlos and Tommie Smith who initiated the protest their fists with black gloves while in the
stadium the Olympics Authority played the tune of their national anthem. “The Star Spangled
Banner”. Smith and Carlos on that particular day has won the gold and the bronze medals
respectively for their running event of 200 meter for the Summer Olympics of 1968.
The protests were mainly triggered in the backdrop of the racial and the communal
tensions and the tendency of the racial supremacy that are inflicted by the Whites on the people
of the other colors mainly the ‘blacks’. During the medal distribution ceremony, both the athletes
faced towards the US flag and then facing the flag they kept their hands raised until the anthem
was over. Along with them, the Australian medalist Peter Norman will also wear the badges of
the human rights movement on all their jackets.
In this regard, Smith has also written his autobiography “Black Power” to indicate the
fact that they did not accept the racial supremacy of the whites over the blacks, where he stated
that the salutes of the black is not only the salute of the blacks in general but salute of the human
rights in particular. In the context of the protest by raising their black fist, Tommie Smith stated
that “We are concerned about the lack of the black assistant coaches.” By stating this he also
stated about the unfortunate incident when Muhammad Ali got stripped off from the title that he
has bagged because of his skin color. He also repeatedly stressed on the lack of the basic
amenities like the good housing or the lack of basic education facilities due to the skin color of
the sportsperson.

2HISTORY OF PROTEST IN SPORTS
The protest of Kolin Kaepernick was also directed for the treatment that the society shows
towards the people of the minority group, which is mainly evident in the field of sports and the
other such related events. The protest took place in San Francisco where he refused to stand
during the national anthem that was played in the context of the treatment of minorities. He
started the protest by stating that “I am not going to stand up and show pride in a flag for such
a country that oppresses the black people and people of that same color.” Mainly the younger
generation has supported the statement of Kaepernick who assisted him by seating on the team’s
bench when the stadium played the national anthem.
Not only his own athlete event, Kaepernick also refused to stand up during the national
anthem that was played during the other preseason games, but the official reports stated that he
did not wear the uniform because of his injury in the right shoulder. Following the Kaepernick’s
incident, there were other numerous high profile players who have stood up speaking for the
different aspects of the civil right movements in the wake of the incidents of gun violence that
was inflicted throughout the United States due to the skin color of the different
players.Kaepernick has also reported to the media of NFL that his decision was to share his
decisions with the general public but restricted himself considering the situation.
The controversial commercial of Nike on the theme of “Dream krazy” was the extension
of the brand of “Just Do it” campaign that characterized the outstanding form of commercial that
was there at the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony which distributed the awards accordingly. The
commercial of the “Dream Krazy” was created from the Wieden & Kennedy that has produced
the Park Pictures. Kapaernick has featured the sport star like Serena Williams and Lebron James
who have illustrated the expectations of the athletes in the direction of turning the insane dreams
into the reality of today’s world.

3HISTORY OF PROTEST IN SPORTS
The tagline of the commercial was “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing
everything.”The instagram numbers of Nike have also increased by thousand numbers after the
release of the commercial’s premier launched in September in the year 2018. Because of this TV
commercial, the commercial got nominated along with the other entries of Apple, Sandy Hook
and Apple.
After the release of the advertisement , it is however not clear not clear regarding the
collaboration of the market savvy approach. Nike has released various products which are related
to the Kapaernick , both of which will be produced in higher volumes and will be quickly sold
out. After the TV commercial, there were several protests regarding the use of Nike products
where people were seen burning the Nike products.
The website of Nike has also encouraged their customers to sign up the pledge of “future
Colin Kaepernick products.” After this TV commercial Kepernick did not appear for any other
Nike commercials that will generate the main headlines in association with the company’s
decision regarding the future sale of the products. Followed by the TV commercial, Nike has
also quickly sold out the line worth 75 dollars with the hashtag “IMWITHKAP” which was
mainly launched to make the civilians aware of their basic rights as youth and accordingly raise
the awareness for equal rights for all in the society.
Finally, in order to conclude it can be stated that all the three aspects of the given report
highlights the issue of the racial supremacy and the ill effects off such practices in the society.
The report also highlighted the several issues regarding the lack of privileges and the other
facilities that are not given to the minority sections of the society.

4HISTORY OF PROTEST IN SPORTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/sports/kaepernick-nike-kneeling.html?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lAAZmgdrro
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nike+dream+crazy