President Barack Obama should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tommie Smith and to John Carlos, American athletes who peacefully protested at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City and were sanctioned for it. These men wore a glove and raised a fist in the air to protest what they saw as the abuse of human rights in the United States, but they did not strike anyone or condone or encourage violence against anyone. As a result of their peaceful protest, they were stripped of their Olympic medals and were ostracized in the United States. The actions of Smith and Carlos were meritorious, not wrong, and should be recognized as a positive example, not condemned, and not forgotten.
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