WASHINGTON—Tommie Smith and John Carlos were proud to raise their gloved fists in a symbolic protest at the Olympics, and now they’re proud that Colin Kaepernick and other athletes are staging national anthem protests to raise awareness about racial inequality and police brutality. “Don’t hate the kid because he stood up for something to change,” said Smith, who won the gold medal and set a world record in the 200 metres in 1968. “Protest is a good thing because you’re trying to expose certain things through protest,” said Carlos, who won the bronze in the 200. “Then, when you sit back and say, ‘Well, I don’t know whether it’s the right place to make statement here or there.’ In any protest, I think you make a statement to try and reach the far ends of the earth. What better way to do it than if you’re in a sport?”

Source: thestar September 29, 2016 22:52 UTC