Some jackass sent me a PM

[Hot to Trot Daphne]

and said that my avatar is racist.

what do you think?

by the way, this is how you start a thread Staff edit personal info CC.

This will be interesting.

[rrabbit6926]

You can never make everyone happy. People will find things to bitch at almost anything. I don't see anything wrong with the avatar but then again i'm not a fan of the Olympics.

[Sweet N Little]

Its just a form of personal expression, I see nothing wrong with it

[Laz]

If I remember correctly that picture is from the 60's maybe the early 70's during the effort to get equal rights by the black community. Those events make this a historical not racist picture.

[Eccie Addict]

I'd be willing to bet that jackass thinks it's a Nazi thing lol.

He obviously didn't zoom in on it.

[PaganGuy]

knowing where the pic is from..its exactly the opposite

[gomezaddams59]

Mexico City Olympics medal stand 1968, believe the 400 meters

[mammabear19k]

wow them r crazzy

[Laz]

Originally Posted by gomezaddams59

Mexico City Olympics medal stand 1968, believe the 400 meters

That is what I thought but I was too lazy to look it up.

[Lorelei Jesse]

There is nothing offensive about your avatar......in fact its more motivational IMHO

[KittyLamour]

Who can understand some people...? How could anyone find your avatar racist? Inspirational and motivational ... yes...racist? I don't get it.

[RickO'shayRabbitt]

I am old enough to have witnessed the event live, via television. It is from the 1968 Olympic Games from Mexico City. The fists in the air, with the black glove, was to symbolize a theme of that time which had gained popularity among many. It meant Black Power. What that term means to different individuals, I can't say.

I was 13. At that young age I viewed it more as some sort of protest against the establishment, which was a popular protest back in 1968. I did not see it as racist at the time. I still don't. It was two young people who happened to be Black.

I am not stating any of this as fact. It's just what my memory of that time remembers. Perhaps an interview with the two medal winners will completely refute what I have written. I'm just adding my two cents. Nothing more.

[Pink Floyd]

Quit dancing around the frigging issue. Martin Luther King Jr and Bobby Kennedy were killed that year. You have no concept how high tensions were running then.
Black Power is a political slogan espoused by black racialists and a name for various associated ideologies.[1] It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States.[2] The movement was prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, emphasizing racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture and promote black collective interests[3] and advance black values. "Black Power" expresses a range of political goals, from defense against racial oppression, to the establishment of separate social institutions and a self-sufficient economy.The earliest known usage of the term is found in a 1954 book by Richard Wright titled Black Power.[4] New York politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. used the term on May 29, 1966 during a baccalaureate address at Howard University: "To demand these God-given rights is to seek black power."[5]

[Hot to Trot Daphne]

not dancing around any issue, I know what the black power sign is, I know exactly what it symbolizes personally, so I also know that it is not racist.That is also not the only thing that picture symbolizes to me... That is one of the most hardcore things that you can do, excel and be the best at something on your own terms not anyone else's. Since you go to Wikipedia for your perspective on it lol... let me show you something you can relate to:

Tommie Smith stated in his autobiography, "Silent Gesture", that the salute was not a Black Power salute, but in fact a human rights salute.

On the morning of October 16, 1968,[2] U.S. athlete Tommie Smith won the 200 meter race in a world-record time of 19.83 seconds, with Australia's Peter Norman second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the U.S.'s John Carlos in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to collect their medals at the podium. The two U.S. athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty.[3] Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar workers in the U.S. and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage."[4] All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals.[5] Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on October 16, 1968[2] were inspired by Edwards' arguments.[6]

Both U.S. athletes intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove, this being the reason behind him raising his left hand, as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute.[7] When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd.[8] Smith later said "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Ol...k_Power_salute

[Chevalier]

Originally Posted by barneyrubble

It was two young people who happened to be Black.

Not quite just "happened to be." The whole point was that they were African-Americans. Some African-American athletes had boycotted the Olympics. Rightly or wrongly, at the time many perceived the protest as intended to reflect their opinion that the US was a racist country. That may have influenced George Foreman to wave the miniature American flag when he won the heavyweight title and gold medal at the same Olympics.

Criticizing the US like that upset a lot of people at the time, and apparently still upsets some people. I'm not one of them, but I'm not surprised that someone would react that way.