Appendix - Matrix - Michigan State University

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-
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Foreword • xi