Dear Sochi Olympian,
You probably know about the Black Power Salute performed by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, when the gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meter dash raised their fists atop the medal podium to show the world the plight of black Americans. The demonstration made for one of the most iconic images in sports history, but more importantly, it was the climax of activism within the athletic realm.
The hardships and attacks that black Americans endured in the 1960s is well-known and well-documented as one of the most divisive issues of the time. It was an issue of basic human rights, as black people were being deprived of their dignity and liberties.
Today, our country is striving to approach human equality, but in many others around the globe, more and more people are being deprived of their rights. Such is the case in Russia, as I'm certain you are aware. Seven months ago, President Vladmir Putin passed a law that used many words to convey a single underlying message: gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people do not possess basic rights in his country.
In the wake of the law, violence against LGBT people has grown significantly in Russia, according to Igor Kochetkov, head of the Russian LGBT Network. It is impossible to produce statistics, though, as most attacks go unreported. Of the incidents that are reported, few are ever looked into by police. A study by Kochetkov's organization found that of 20 recently reported acts of violence towards LGBT Russians, only four were investigated and only one went to court. The pictures coming out of cities from Moscow and St. Petersburg past Sochi through to Siberia are haunting. Defenseless citizens, young and old, gay and straight, are being beaten by weapon-bearing people or police in riot gear, simply for standing up for equality. Without interference, this will not change.
Before the 1968 Olympics, a group of black American athletes, including Carlos and Smith, formed a group they named the Olympic Project for Human Rights. After deciding not to boycott the Games, they agreed that they would act according to conscience. Shortly before their medal ceremony, Smith and Carlos heard a call to act.
I urge you to take a stand as they did. Make a statement. Let President Putin know that his inexcusable LGBT policies will not be tolerated. At no time will a relatively peaceful foreign country such as Russia receive more attention from the mainstream American media than during the Olympics. For two weeks, Russia will be on display to the world, but unless an athlete or group of athletes forces its attention to the atrocities occurring in its streets, the spotlight will remain only on the Games' glamour.
The IOC will not appreciate your protest. They insist that the Olympics are to remain apolitical, a statement in which I fail to see relevance. The evil being done in Russia isn't an issue of politics; it's about morality. There is profound hope in the IOC's vision of a Games in which international relations are temporarily put to rest, but how can this occur in a country where the hopes of upwards of a million LGBT people are being crushed by its laws only to be further beaten by its citizens? To do nothing would be to ignore injustice; is this the Olympic vision?
The day after their Black Power Salute, Smith and Carlos were expelled from the Olympic Village and the US team. They were, in a sense, martyrs for activism at the Olympics. They tested how far the IOC would go and how the public would react. Because of the controversial nature of the issue they were protesting, opinions were initially split as to whether it was the two demonstrators or the IOC that was in the wrong. Since then, though, it has since shifted heavily in favor of the activists. It became clear the IOC was mistaken in issuing its punishments, not only ethically, but because it drew attention to an event that would have likely have gone without much notice otherwise.
Has the IOC truly learned from its mistakes of 1968? I don't know. I can't say what punishment you would risk were you to demonstrate in some manner. I do think it's important to remember that the issue to be protested in Russia is not gay marriage or any of the political matters on which Americans are more deeply divided, but rather an issue of human rights. Alongside video of any demonstrations that occur, the media will be showing images of Russians being beaten, pepper sprayed, and abused. The American public will be in your favor, and based on the delegations the Obama administration chose to send to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the USOC will have to be, too.
There is a quote from writer Ambrose Hollingsworth Redmoon that read, "Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." I'm 17 years old. I've yet to graduate high school. I can't tell you what should be most important as you compete in Sochi, but I do hope you'll take time to consider it.
To conclude, I want to congratulate you. You have dedicated years of your life for the chance to represent the United States of America on the largest platform sports has to offer, and it has paid off. No matter what happens in Sochi, I will admire your talent, dedication, and grit. Compete well, and act according to your conscience.
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