Forty years ago, two American athletes used the Olympics to stage a political protest, and their actions remain controversial to this very day.  Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists above their head during an awards ceremony, giving the black power salute associated most closely with the Black Panthers, enraging Americans who saw the Olympics (then) as non-political and the pair’s exploitation of the international stage as disloyal to the country they represented.  ESPN gave the pair the Arthur Ashe Courage Award last week, and Jonah Goldberg criticizes the decision in today’s Los Angeles Times:

Last week, ESPN awarded Tommie Smith and John Carlos the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs — the sports network’s equivalent of the Oscars — for their once infamous, and now famous, black power salutes from the winner’s podium at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

The stench of self-congratulation surrounding ESPN’s decision is thicker than the air in a locker room after double overtime. “As the passage of time has given us the opportunity to put their actions into the proper context,” gloats USC professor Todd Boyd in a column on ESPN.com, “their supporters can now feel vindicated while their detractors must eat their words.”

The argument that Smith’s and Carlos’ critics must dine on their denunciations rests on an inch-deep nostalgia and the triumph of celebrity culture.

Goldberg hasn’t souffléd his criticisms yet, at least not for his own dining, and neither should anyone else.  He roasts ESPN well in his column, lambasting them for their historical ignorance about the salute, the times, and the message it sent about politics and sports.  In the end, Goldberg exposes ESPN’s Espy decision as particularly half-baked.

No one really doubts any more that the Olympics is all about politics, and this year above all should make that clear.  The IOC awarded the games to Beijing in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the political leadership in China, despite human-rights concerns as well as smog that could choke a horse.  During the Cold War, the Games served as a proxy for armed conflict, with the Soviets and their satellites ruining the health of their athletes with massive doses of steroids and other chemicals designed to improve performances.  Hitler staged the 1936 Olympiad as a tribute to the dominance of the “Aryan” master race.

The exploitation of the event by individuals such as Carlos and Smith therefore isn’t exactly a groundbreaking shift.  However, Goldberg reminds ESPN of what exactly the salute supported.  The Panthers at that time were an armed militia which wanted to enforce its point of view with violence.  Nine police officers were killed in confrontations with the Panthers and dozens more injured.  Their motto, “Off the pigs!”, often accompanied the salute Smith and Carlos gave in Mexico City.

As Goldberg notes, no one at ESPN appears to have bothered to research the incident beyond the film clip.  Stuart Scott laughably recounted his own memories of the event and the times in which they occurred — even though he was three years old at the time.  Their entire staff seems afflicted by the same superficiality.  Of course the two men showed some courage in demonstrating at the Olympics knowing what the reaction would be — but what did that courage serve?  One cannot honor courage without accepting its context, which makes this sound as though ESPN endorsed the Panthers and their activities during this period.

Maybe ESPN should stick to sports instead of interpreting history.