Reactions From Former Athletes

(T&FN, December 1967)

BOB HAYES, double sprint gold medal winner in the 1964 Olympics: "We had some problems before we left the States in 1964, but nobody thought of going this far with it. I don't think any sort of problem would have kept me from participating. I just overlooked it, and when we left it worked itself out. There was no problem in the team itself, or if there was I didn't know about it."

ANDY STANFIELD, 220y world record setter, 1952 Olympic champion and 1956 runner-up, now a principal of a Newark high school: "That Olympic title means something. I have been projected into situations that never would have happened if it hadn't been for sports, and it has made it easier for me to work towards raising the standards of those around me. That's why I feel that a number of Negro athletes recently have been misled and misguided into a concept of thinking they can do more for the black race by refusing to participate. They can be assets by taking part in the American athletic dream of winning an Olympic title as an American, and thereby bolstering their race as many other Negro athletes have done in the past."

GENE JOHNSON, retired 7-foot high jumper, now a social worker: "Apparently the real issue is being obscured. The athletes who have come up with the proposed boycott have to be commended from my point of view. In essence what they are saying is this: there is a tremendous credibility gap between the treatment accorded our Negro 'stars' and the black masses in general. The US exalts its Olympic star athletes as representatives of a democratic and free society, when millions of Negro and other minority citizens are excluded from decent housing and meaningful employment. This is where the credibility factor enters.

“I would like to pose this as a question. What would be the fate of a Ralph Boston, if he was not a 27-foot long jumper, of a Charlie Greene, if he was not a 9.1 sprinter? They would be 'faceless' black men caught in the same system of racial discrimination as many other black citizens. I am extremely proud to see that those proposing the boycott have enough social awareness to realize that this struggle of the man in Fillmore, Watts and Harlem is their struggle also.

“The efforts of Negroes in athletics has benefitted only the athlete involved. The civil rights movement or struggle requires the aid and contributions of all black men regardless of his 'station in life.' Negro athletes should not be exempt from nor should they divorce themselves from this struggle. The mere fact that a great sacrifice, such as foregoing an opportunity to participate in the Olympics is involved, points to the urgency surrounding the issue. Undoubtedly, many Negro athletes will not agree to the proposed move. That is their opinion, and it should be respected.

“However, my hat is off to Tommie Smith, Lee Evans and Otis Burrell. I am also certain that millions of American Negroes will take heart from the fact that their plight has not been overlooked by those of us who have it made within the system.”

LEE CALHOUN, 1956 and 60 Olympic high hurdle champion and current world record holder: "I think it is an honor to run on the Olympic team, regardless of the home front. Those who have never been don't know what it's like to go to the Olympics. Anyone who has ever been won't boycott it."

JACKIE ROBINSON, first Negro to play major league baseball and a 25-foot long jumper: "I say use whatever means. I feel we have to use whatever means to get our rights here in this country. And I don't go for violence. But, when, for 300 years, Negroes have been denied equal opportunity, some attention must be focused on it"

JOHN THOMAS, former world high jump record holder: "A lot of the so-called intelligentsia think athletes are just deadheads. They don't give an athlete credit for being intelligent. They only see the brawn. They figure they will sit back and do the thinking while the athlete will go out and do what they want. These are narrow-minded people. I think that could be the basis for all this [boycott talk]. This is all hearsay from people who haven't made the normal sacrifices an athlete has made. They figure they might have influence on some one and maybe pressure him into expressing the opinion of an outsider."

JESSE OWENS, four gold medal winner in the 1936 Olympics: "I deplore the use of the Olympic Games by certain people for political aggrandizement. There is no place in the athletic world for politics. It is my personal experience that the Olympic Games have been one of the greatest areas in which personal achievement is rewarded culturally, and, eventually, financially and economically."