THE EXHIBIT
Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power is a historical athletics exhibition focusing on San Jose State College’s athletic program from which numerous student athletes became globally recognized figures as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reshaped American society. Because of the large number of outstanding athletes in its track and field program, SJSC became synonymous with the name Speed City between 1956 and 1969.
Many are familiar with the so-called “Black Power” protest staged by SJSC sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the Olympic dais in 1968. Their reaction to racism — bowed heads and raised gloved fists — in America and around the world sparked a controversy that continues to linger some 40 years later.
But did you know that the Spartans’ tradition of activism began some 30 years earlier amongst its coaching staff?
Opening the Field (1920s to 1950s)
From the Great Depression to the Cold War, opportunities open for people of color, including Yoshihiro Uchida and Julius Menendez, to coach and compete academically and athletically.
The Trailblazers (1956 – 1960)
“(SJSC Track & Field Coach Bud Winter) wrote a book, but I made that book real. He had written it before I got there, but he needed an athlete to make it real. All Bud’s stuff came about because of me.”
-Ray Norton discussing his impact on Winter’s sprinting techniques.
Despite discriminatory conditions in San José, sprinters Ray Norton and Bob Poynter manage to bring attention to SJSC from around the world.
Free At Last (1960 – 1964)
“The (Civil Rights) movement was really laid out in the fifties by the work and challenges that the Black athletes faced, and the stands they were willing to take.”
- Ben Tucker, San José State’s cross-country team, 1960-1964
Ron Davis, Ben Tucker, and Horace Whitehead manage to change long-held perceptions of Black Americans as distance runners .
Black Power (1964 – 1969)
“They will be known forever as two niggers who upset the 1968 Olympic Games. I’d rather have been known for that than as two niggers who win two medals.”
-Willie Brown, former San Francisco Mayor and Assembly Speaker
John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and their symbolic gesture at the 1968 Olympics.