Appendix - Matrix - Michigan State University

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Foreword· Professor Harry Edwards, architect of the Olympic boycott, is no stranger to me. I first knew him as an athlete at San Jose State College, especially as a basketball player. However, little did I know then how much organizational genius, dogged determination, and dedication to principle lay within that 6' 8/1 frame. But the Professor is that way. He would be the last person in the world to flaunt his talents and abilities. During the year 1968 Harry Edwards, virtually alone, confronted the combined forces of the U.S. Olympic Committee, the U.S. political establishment, and racists of all kinds from, all corners of the earth, including white and Negro racists in the mass media. His opponents pictured him as a demon, a two-headed ix
monster, a mere opportunist. He had shaken them all with his call for justice for the black athlete. The Olympic Project for Human Rights (the Olympic boycott) was directed against the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Edwards' primary move, however, was against all athletics. For years black people and whites have lived under the delusion that athletics is one sure road to racial equality in this country. It is Edwards' contention that in many ways the lot of black athletes is just as bad today as it was before Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in 1946. Edwards' charges and activities have led to national magazine articles on the plight of black athletes. The athletic departments of over a hundred colleges and universities have been shaken to their foundations. The fire has been started and the match was applied by Harry Edwards. For it all started at San Jose State College when black athletes rebelled against unspeakable housing conditions and vile discrimination. Edwards' promise to disrupt the San Jose State University of Texas at EI Paso football game set off a shock wave throughout the nation. It upset the city of San Jose so much that President Robert D. Clark of San Jose State cancelled the game, against the wishes (or orders) of Governor Ronald Reagan and Superintendent of Schools Max Rafferty. Reagan and Rafferty had said that they would turn out the militia before they would see the game cancelled. From this moment on, Edwards' theme was written. The desire, the motivation, all centered around one word-"justice"-justice for the black man; justice for the black athlete-BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! The Olympic boycott movement was really not new. Political satirist-comedian Dick Gregory had proposed the idea before the 1960 Olympics, but people had merely laughed at him then. He made the same proposal again in 1964. At that time he did get a few people to Foreword· x go along to picket the Olympic trials in Los Angeles. But Harry Edwards moved the struggle out of a local, national context and made it an international issue. I often laugh to myself when I reflect over the fact that throughout the year 1968, Harry Edwards operated the entire project out of a camper. The publicity and the ability to carry out the proposed boycott took money. The funds came out of Edwards' own pocket and from those who believed in the justice of the project. If the donations had matched the amount of hate mail that Edwards, Tommie Smith, Lee Evans, and John Carlos received, Harry could have thrown away his camper and bought a bus. Smith, Evans, and Carlos could best be characterized as the "Three Musketeers" during this period in 1968. They are three unique individuals. Tommie Smith holds eleven world sprint records; Lee Evans is considered to be the greatest quarter-miler of our time; John Carlos is the listed world record holder in the 200 meters. Smith and Carlos long will be remembered by black people throughout the world for their victory-stand demonstration in Mexico City. Although Evans was unable to bring himself to demonstrate as dramatically and nobly as Smith and Carlos, he did endure the hardships and the emotional strain connected with the boycott for some nine months prior to the games. Edwards' approaCh in this book will be enlightening even to his severest critics. He highlights the political, economic, and social implications of the Olympic boycott movement and the revolt of the black athlete and stresses. the need for black athletes to think politically regarding the plight of black people in general rather than to view athletics as an opportunity to fulfill their own personal and selfish goals. Edwards is a revolutionist, a modern Nat Turner, Malcolm X, and Paul Robeson all rolled into one. A semi-high school dropout, Edwards found his destiny late in his academic career- _._--------_....------------ Foreword • xi
Page 2 and 3: The Revolt of the Black Athlete y N
Page 5: ... and to Kenneth Noel, who was a
Page 10 and 11: left to play in the game, 10 black
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Page 16: after he retires. And all his clipp
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Page 55 and 56: for five bucks?" I asked the shot-t
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composed of active and former black
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Appendix A Olympic Project for Huma
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Flanked by athletes who were suppor
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Bob Beamon (center) and Ralph Bosto
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Vince Matthews, member of the recor
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Two "saints" of the black athletes'
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Appendix B The Revolt on the Campus
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University of Southern California "
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General World Track and Field Recor
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Olympic Committee for Human Rights
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Appendix - Matrix - Michigan State University

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