The problems in Tibet of late are linked to the Olympics.  The torch relay has already been used as a site of protest.  Over the next month we will likely see significant demonstrations (I am guessing in places like London, Sydney, San Francisco, Paris) as the torch moves around the world.  And it will not only be Tibet protesters, but also Falungong, Dafur activists, and human rights advocates more generally.

     All of this got me to thinking about Olympic protests.  And the one that stands out so powerfully in my mind is this one:

     1968.  I was a boy watching on TV.  It was a stunning moment, as two African-Americans – John Carlos and Tommie Smith – put on black gloves and raised their fists in a symbol of black power.  They were criticized at the time but the clear justice of their cause has made this picture an icon of the struggle for civil rights in the US. 

       It was a good thing, forcing white Americans to confront their prejudices and inspiring black Americans to claim their rights.  The picture was a mirror of America’s failings and a challenge to overcome them.  It was, in a sense, a Mencian thing, because it spoke truth to power and was generated by an internal desire for justice, internal both to Carlos and Smith themselves and to the United States more broadly.  "Duty is internal," Mencius says.  We have an appetite for doing the right thing.  Carlos and Smith acted on their sense of duty and they reminded us all of the necessity of performing our duties to others in a respectful and conscientious manner.

      Olympic protests can be constructive and positive.  Will there be a 2008 Chinese equivalent of Carlos and Smith?