Democratic Politics

A story from Mexico Olympics :
In the 200 meters race in the 1968 Olympics held at Mexico City, Us athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, both AFRICAN-AMERICANS, won the gold and bronze medals respectively. They received their medals wearing black socks and no shoes to represent Black poverty. They tried to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States. The black-gloved and raised clenched fists were mean to symbolise BLACK POWER. The silver medallist, Australian athlete, Peter Norman, wore a human rights badge on his shirt to show his support to the two Americans.
The international Olympic Association held Carlos and Smith guilty of violating the Olympic spirit. Their medals were taken back. Back home, they were subjected to a lot of criticism. Norman too suffered for his action and was not included in the Australian team for the next Olympic. But their action succeeded in gaining international attention for the Civil Rights Movement in the US.
Civil Rights Movement in America :
Civil Rights Movement in the USA (1954-1968) refers to a set of events and reform movements aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination against African-Americans. Led by Martin Luther King Jr., this movement practised non-violent methods of civil disobedience against racially discriminatory laws and practices. African-American, Afro-American, or Black American, or Black are the terms used to refer mainly to the descendants of Africans who were brought into America as slaves between the 17th century and early 19th century.
Black Power : The Black Power movement emerged in 1966 and lasted till 1975, which was a more militant anti-racist movement, advocating even violence if necessary to end racism in the US.