The Harmonious Journey

The pro-Tibet activists have been dominating western news coverage of the Olympics. I’m not certain why the Olympic committee chose San Francisco as the only North American site for the torch run, given the city’s deep history of protest. The Chinese officially dub the torch run the “Harmonious Journey”. Despite its hopeful moniker, the ill-fated torch run in San Francisco yesterday was anything but harmonious.

The Chinese Consultant tried to drown out opposition voices by bussing in supporters from Sacramento. The Organization of Chinese Americans also contributed supporters, as well as the Northern California Chinese Cultural Athletics Federation who brought 20 buses from nearby cities. Despite the hundreds of imported supporters, the torch run was secretly moved last minute to a location far away from the celebratory stage and cheering (or jeering) crowds. The torchbearers are always surrounded by a group of men called the “flame protection squad” who quickly ripped a Tibetan flag from the hands of an activist torchbearer as he neared the Golden Gate bridge.

Bussing in Chinese supporters was as knuckleheaded a grassroots strategy as choosing San Francisco in the first place. The Tibetan activists have been effective at the use of symbolism, not amassing crowds. They are passionate and disciplined. The Students for a Free Tibet - the group that hung the banners on the Golden Gate bridge a few days ago and created international front page news - describe their staff as “living to make life difficult for the Chinese government” (emphasis mine). Compare that to Amnesty International who describes themselves as “working to protect human rights worldwide”.

The Tibetan activists use symbolism as their grassroots weapon, which is why the Olympic torch has been a natural cause celebe for them. I assume this is the first time in history that the torch proceeded by bus through Paris after protestors extinguished the flame several times. The Olympic games have always been about symbolism as much as they are about athletics.

The most famous symbolic protest in US Olympic history is the 1968 image of Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising a fist on the Olympic platform (see photo below). The protest had been urged by Harry Edwards (Olympic Project for Human Rights). Smith raised his right fist to represent black power, and Carlos raised his left fist to represent unity in black America. Smith wore a black scarf to represent black pride, and their lack of shoes represented black poverty in America. Both Smith and Carlos were kicked out of the Olympic village and suspended from their team. The headline in Sports Illustrated was “The Black Athlete - A Shameful Story”.

1968 was marked by protest in the United States. 100 women stood outside the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City and threw girdles, steno pads, and high heels in a trash can. Students occupied academic and administrative buildings at Columbia University for six days in response to Vietnam horrors and other social issues. Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert F Kennedy were assassinated in the spring. Less than two weeks prior to the suummer Olympic games the Mexican Army opened fire on a large student protest, killing hundreds.

Leading up to the 1968 Olympic games, the year prior, Muhammed Ali had been prosecuted for refusing to be drafted and he was stripped of his boxing title. Ali said “No, I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end”. That same year a new organization was formed, the “Olympic Project for Human Rights”, whose aim was to organize a boycott of the Olympic games and to restore Muhammed Ali’s title.

Stripped of his title and out of prison on bail bond, Ali spent 1968 on a speaking tour. His title was restored in 1970. In 1996 Ali carried the Olympic torch and lit the flame in a symbol of unity. He said, “An honor. Mankind coming together. Martin Luther King’s home. Muslims seeing me with this torch.” President Clinton spoke to Ali shortly after the ceremony, “They didn’t tell me who would light the flame, but when I saw it was you, I cried”.