John Carlos Story Essay -- Sports

The John Carlos Story is a book about the struggles of growing up black in America at a cartridge holder when a good deal of the nation was still segregated. John Carlos was a member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. After winning the bronze medal, John Carlos and a friend and teammate, Tommy Smith, who win the gold medal, raised their fists in opposition of racial inequality and in unity of civil rights. This book shows examples of sociology in everyday life which can be explained through theories and concepts, which centers mainly on the event surrounding their win at the Olympic Games.A seemingly non-emotional, non-verbal, non-violent protest over racism was met with a groovy deal of negativity at the Olympic Games. Because of the location of their protest over racial inequality, many people did not agree with what they were doing. It was not considered socially acceptable to let their opinion on the matters of race play a part of the opinion-free Olympic Games. Instantly, the audience at the game did not like their way of permit the people know of their beliefs as the crowd went silent. As John Carlos stated in his book, Theres something awful about hearing fifty curtilage people go silent, like being in the eye of a hurricane. Then, as the national anthem played in full force, the calm onwards the storm ended and the boos started coming down (Carlos 121). Smith and Carlos were then able to walk off the field but it just got worse, the shock was gone and it was formally getting ugly (Carlos 121). The audience started to yell at them and called them anti-American (Carlos 121). Because of the social setting, people did not understand the purpose of what they were doing or what it had represented. There was ta... ... period of time (1968) in which there was no race cohesion and blacks were not viewed positively by some Americans. Also, the place was likely not the proper location for such a demonstration. Again, people had differen t reactions and to some, Carlos and Smith were heroes. This can be considered labeling theory which focuses on how people define deviance what is or is not normal-which is a core issue (Ballantine/Roberts 175). In the end, those that thought he was a hero were helpful to John Carlos and with his book, society accepts him for his efforts and if there be individuals that still do not, they are the minority in society.Works CitedBallantine, Jeanne and Roberts, Keith. Our Social World, Introduction to Sociology. Pine Forge Press, 2011.Carlos, John. The John Carlos Story. (With Dave Zirin). Haymarket Books, Chicago, IL 2011.