[Closed] The white man in that photo

That was a great read, really glad I read it. Thanks.

Fascinating, thanks.

I confess though that it came with a small side-order of shame that I didn't know a fat lot about the whole incident. Without going all Tumblr, I just footnote that I've just read about an important bit of what might usefully be termed "black history" because someone pointed out that there was a white man in it.

🙂

that was very interesting. i didn't really know much about that photo,other than the anti racism/black power salute.

peter norman definitely was a remarkable and brave man for standing up for his beliefs against major racism,prejudice and vitriol.

Wow! Thanks for sharing that. Seen the photo, but didn't know the story/context. Very moving.

Remarkable strength but what a price he paid!

Thanks for that, remarkable story.

Thanks, sent to an Australian friend who never heard of him and hopefully spread the word/story of this mans sacrifice.

Great story, top work for sharing

Thanks, CFH - educational, for a privileged, ignorant white bloke...

Yeah amazing story and I didn't know until I read that! And surprising that only relatively recently the attitudes of the Aussi govt changed...

Todays bit of learning. Thanks CFH

Thanks for the share. Just put it on Faceache as I think it's a story more people need to be aware of. Can't believe that the Australian government were still unforgiving until so recently. Shame on them!

Wow! I had no idea. Will show this to my son tonight.

Think there is a space on that statue that needs filling?

Great read that. Very uplifting and sad at the same time. I knew of the black power story but never even noticed the 'white guy'.

The bit at the end nearly brought me to tears, what a selfless bloke.

Think there is a space on that statue that needs filling?

Read the footnotes.

Reckon they should add a plinth with his story on it, or at least his name to the empty step.

Cool story bro!

But in the non-sarcastic way, that was actually very interesting.

I hope his record stands for 100+ years so this story can be remembered.

Every day is a school day - cheers

wow, like many, i had seen the photo, but im ashamed to say i had never thought of the white guy in it.
great read, thanks for sharing.

Fantastic story.
What a price to pay for being a quiet hero.
Thanks for posting that CFH.

Very timely Flashy - a good reminder (among other things) that bullying isn't just something that kids do to each other in the playground (it's anti-bullying week, don'tcha know?), and a powerful example of a choice we can all make. In memory of someone who very much decided not to be a bystander, in the most literal way I can imagine, I'll just leave this here...

Great read that.

gypsumfantastic - Member
Every day is a school day - cheers

Indeed.

Great post! My days reflection......
I saw the televised black power salute but didn't realise the added dimension. What a brave, selfless man.

That is pretty amazing.

Thank you for that. I never knew this story and I am sure glad I do now. He is a true hero IMHO.

I guessed the photo from the post title. Agree that it's terrible he has never been recognised for his part.

thanks

Knew that story and it should be wider known

Many people don't realise how bad racism was in Australia.

When I got there in the 1970s, many Aborigines in Queensland were restricted to reserves and had to have a permission to be out of it - usually granted only if it was for work eg on a cattle station. They were also paid a fraction of the white wage, and most of the wage was deducted and paid to the Dept of Aboriginal and Island Affairs.

The last massacre was not that far in the past then, about 50 years.

Peter Norman's moral courage was of a high order and he paid a high price.

just shows what a deep forward thinking man he was even down to the detail of the plinth. I think the equality movement is more than just race but it is the one with the loudest voice.
Peter Norman, I salute you

San Jose State University need to update their statue I think, it would be a fitting tribute and bring the whole story to a new audience.

The statue has been covered in a footnote

There has been a great deal of discussion about the article since then, and one of the themes that emerged concerned the statue in San Jose (pictured in the article). In the statue the spot where Peter Norman stood is empty, prompting many to call for him to be added. It transpires that this was not something Norman wanted. In an interview on Democracy Now, John Carlos explains that Norman wanted his spot empty so that anyone visiting the statue could stand on it and have their photo taken on the plinth, standing in solidarity with Smith and Carlos, as he had done. Peter Norman, we salute you.

Excellent share, CFH.

I've learned a lot from that. Most of all that selflessness is one of the great attributes for which we should all reach just a little bit more.

Great read, never heard that story. What a bloke - wonder if he had any idea just what he was letting himself in for. Had no idea Australians were such arseholes.

Had no idea Australians were such arseholes.

How fabulous that the learning you've taken from that story is to label and generalise about a whole nation like that. Did you spot the bit about Peter Norman being Australian? Yep, he was a total arsehole... 🙄

The struggle for equality always needs people from both "sides" - otherwise there can be no equality.

Chapeau, as some on here sometimes say.

Great read. I remember the fuss when it happened, but not the story posted above.

What an amazing story, all the more so that, when things were bad, he had the chance to back down but stood by his principles. Hero, no question

I hadn't read the footnotes MSP, makes me think even more of the man.

A very inspirational lunchtime read that. Even more impressive his resolution to stand by his principles decades later forfeiting any recognition or financial gain.

Shame on Australian athletics.

Superb stuff

How fabulous that the learning you've taken from that story is to label and generalise about a whole nation like that. Did you spot the bit about Peter Norman being Australian? Yep, he was a total arsehole...

So, in somethingion: jog on.

PN was effectively standing on his own and was ostracised by the establishment & pretty much the entire country.

At a guess your definition of the "entire country" probably ignores [i]pretty much the entire[/i] indigenous population? I'm being silly. That's a ludicrous assumption to make about an entire population, that would be a ridiculous thing to assert, wouldn't it?

If you do even a cursory amount of googling you will find that there actually were, believe it or not, people campaigning for civil rights in Australia in the 1960s.

The whole point of the article is...

I took a number of points from the article. Such as not making assumptions about people for superficial reasons. Did you read the bit about how the writer acknowledged the assumptions he's been making, prior to learning a bit more? This bit:

I considered him as a random presence, an extra in Carlos and Smith’s moment, or a kind of intruder. [b]Actually, I even thought that that guy[/b] – who seemed to be just a simpering Englishman – [b]represented[/b], in his icy immobility, [b]the will to resist the change that Smith and Carlos were invoking[/b] in their silent protest. [b]But I was wrong.[/b]

[my bold for emphasis]

I'm genuinely saddened that you could read the same article I did and come away thinking that the whole point of it was to illustrate that Australians are arseholes.

Don't be such a bed-wetter.

And I'm so glad I posted that anti-bullying week stuff. Really pleased it's had such a positive impact, and made people think about what they say to people.

edlong - Member
...If you do even a cursory amount of googling you will find that there actually were, believe it or not, people campaigning for civil rights in Australia in the 1960s...

Yup, don't tar all Ozzies with the racism brush.

Those who stood against racism faced vociferous attacks from the nasties, but most were totally ignorant of what was right under their noses.

I read the link when it popped up on Reddit recently, but felt compelled to read it again 🙂

Inspirational stuff.

it had the same resonance with how the british government treated Alan Turing. I think the Aboriginal people still face issues to this day. I dont think some people fully appreciated the freedom and independence they have in this country.

Surely the thread should have been named 'the other person' in that photo?

I'm sure a thread named the black man in that photo would go down a storm, wouldn't it. 😕

I dont think some people fully appreciated the freedom and independence they have in this country.

As a white man in Australia at that time he should have been free, as an Olympic medallist he should have been a hero. He wasn't not because of laws and prisons but because of attitudes and ignorance, and that is still what we have to make sure doesn't ruin lives today in the UK. Many facets of bigotry are illegal but the beliefs are widely held and they can still ruin lives, the way his was, while being near impossible to prove legally.

In my lifetime I think that the UK and most of Europe has made massive strides in creating much more equal societies, but i am always uncomfortable when statements are made like that, yes lets appreciate how far we have come, but also appreciate how much still needs doing. The job isn't close to being finished yet.

Surely the thread should have been named 'the other person' in that photo?

I'm sure a thread named the black man in that photo would go down a storm, wouldn't it.

Depends on context imho - this whole situation was (is) about the politics of race - the other two didn't give an "ethnically diverse power" salute, the black / white thing is directly relevant and pertinent to the issue(s).

I've used racist terminology on here with impunity before, in the context of a thread discussion about acceptable / unacceptable language, but if I used the same language in another context I'd expect a lengthy or permanent ban.

In this case, the guy's whiteness is pretty much central to why he's being referred to. If it was coincidental then I'd be among the first of the liberal 'bed wetters' to question why someone chose to use skin colour as a label..

Evening.

All this happened just 4years after Selma, Alabama.

The bridge scene in the film Selma really affected me. Amelia Boynton Robinson took a hell of a kicking for what she firmly believed.

The men on that podium knew there would be recriminations awaiting them.

Could you/I do the same? Could you honestly say you'd risk life and future livelihood?

Chapeau to all that stood up to be counted.

Surely the thread should have been named 'the other person' in that photo?

I'm sure a thread named the black man in that photo would go down a storm, wouldn't it.

lol

woooooooooooooooossh

(unless of course you were joking and the woosh should actually be mine 🙂 )