(Todd A. Smith)
Some American Olympic athletes have tried to distance themselves from President Donald Trump while in Italy, saying that they represent themselves, not necessarily the United States.
That position has drawn criticism from President Trump and some Americans back home.
In a letter to the Washington Post editor, Edward Basile wrote, “Some American Olympians are saying that they represent themselves, not the United States. Of course, what they are really doing is trying to distance themselves from the policies of the Trump administration. But the Trump administration is not the United States of America.”
I disagree because the United States of America voted for this Trump administration, therefore condoning his unamerican policies.
And just like American Olympians of the past have used their platform to protest injustice, this generation would be doing itself a disserve to ignore evil, racism and fascism when they have the ears and eyes of everyone watching around the world.
America finds itself at a crossroad like it did during the late 1960s.
The 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City came at a turning point in Black history, and therefore American history.
On April 4 of that year, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fell to an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tenn.
And a couple of months later Sen. Robert F. Kennedy also succumbed to an assassin’s bullet in Los Angeles.
Many African-American athletes had grown tired of being quiet and performing for the White masses without having a voice on issues affecting people from their community.
This was a time before everyone who wanted a public voice had one because social media and podcasts were decades away from reality.
Therefore, underserved and ignored communities often looked to their leaders and celebrities to be their voice because they had a platform and at times a megaphone.
Therefore, some athletes like UCLA basketball star Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) refused to play in the 1968 Olympics as a form of protest.
Others like track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith used their platform to raise clenched black fists to represent Black empowerment and an end to a meek form of protest.
Although Carlos and Smith were stripped of their medals and removed from the Olympic village, the message they sent on racial and political issues still reverberates almost 60 years later, and they are seen in the Black community as heroic icons.
The world, especially those living in countries like the United States and Ukraine, are at another inflection point in history.
Therefore, those using the Olympic platform to highlight the injustices and cruelty happening throughout the world are definitely doing the right thing because although the current world has a million media voices, people would be surprised at how many people are totally uninformed about what is going on in the world around them.
And because of social media algorithms that funnel news to people based on their biases and prejudices, much of the “news” that many people receive on their social media feeds is fake news.
Over the last few years, Americans who watched trusted news sources have heard about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unjust and evil war in Ukraine.
But as news cycles go, the top stories of past years often fade fast because some other story will pop up every day, making yesterday’s issues forgotten news.
Therefore, to have Olympic athletes from Ukraine like skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych attempt to use their platform to personalize Putin’s war and show how his evil has affected real people is truly more important than competing in a sport.
Heraskevych attempted to wear a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in Putin’s war.
He lost an appeal, ending his 2026 Olympic dreams.
But he sent a message heard around the world, especially to those who have forgotten about the war in Europe.
Furthermore, for Olympic athletes who have dedicated their entire lives to achieving their athletic dreams to place freedom for their countrymen over individual glory is the true characteristic of a champion and future legend.
One of the world’s biggest heroes of all time was boxing legend Muhammad Ali who gave up his championship belt and millions of dollars to stand up against the unrighteousness of the Vietnam War.
People said Ali was a disgrace to the nation for his “unpatriotic” defiance.
But he stood on business despite the financial and reputational loss and eventually history saw him as a hero because his stance against the Vietnam War was completely righteous and on the right side of history.
That type of heroism extends to Hollywood entertainers as well.
When singer Marvin Gaye’s brother Frankie Gaye began writing him from the frontlines in Vietnam, his whole perspective on his fame changed.
He began crafting songs for his 1971 album “What’s Going On,” which became one of the most iconic albums ever, not just amongst protest albums.
Sure, Gaye and Ali upset some people.
But they could have possibly saved lives and potentially motivated change that eventually led to peace.
Although the Ukrainian athlete Heraskevych did not receive his Olympic glory, he could have motivated more people around the world to pay attention once again to the atrocities happening in his country because of Putin’s evil desire to destroy neighboring nations and annex their land.
We live in a time when athletes are told to shut and dribble, for example.
But with so many injustices occurring around the world, true heroes cannot afford to shut up because their silence could cost lives.
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