The 2014 Winter Olympic Games open February 7, just a week before MCC’s Martin Luther King Day Celebration on February 14. You might be interested to know of a link between the two.
The International Olympic Committee’s definition of Olympism includes this statement: “The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play” (1). Despite this ideal, the Olympic Games often serve as a world stage for raising political and social issues, some of them even about the Olympics themselves.
You may have seen the iconic photograph of US Olympians John Carlos and Tommie Smith with their fists raised in the Black Power salute on the awards podium at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. Before those games, several African-American athletes had formed the Olympic Project for Human Rights to plan a boycott of the Mexico City games to publicize racial injustices. Dr. King had offered to provide public support for the boycott and to organize an active protest in addition. The idea was ultimately abandoned because the athletes wanted to compete, “but Carlos and Smith found a way to protest with … their gloves, and Carlos now believes it was the right gesture. Had they boycotted, no one would have heard what they had to say … ‘Who remembers that Kareem Abdul Jabbar stayed home?’" (2).
Nearly all the modern Olympics Games have been a forum for the political or social issues of the day (3). The 2014 Winter Olympic Games have raised issues about Russia’s discrimination against gay people and the corruption in Olympic construction projects (2). Food for thought if you watch this year’s Winter Olympics …
MCC’s Martin Luther King Day Celebration takes place on Friday, February 14, starting with a student talent showcase from 11:00-11:50 AM in the cafeteria outside the Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center (Monroe A/B) on the Brighton Campus, followed by the main program, featuring Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, in Monroe A/B at 12 noon. Also, mark your calendar for the first annual World Interfaith Harmony Week Celebration on Tuesday, Feb. 4, with a panel discussion from 12:30-2:00 PM in the Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center (Monroe B) on the Brighton Campus.
This is part of a monthly series of articles from the Diversity Council about topics related to diversity and multiculturalism.
References:
(1) https://www.olympic.org/olympism-in-action
(2) https://ezproxy.monroecc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=wapo.943f58b6-0c04-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd&site=eds-live
(3) https://politics.theguardian.com/politicspast/page/0,9067,892902,00.html
Deb Mohr
MCC Diversity Council (ETS: Libraries)
01/30/2014 |