The black glove and raised clenched fist were meant to symbolic black power. The athletes did so in the Mexico Olympics (1968) to signify the discrimination faced by the black people. With this gesture, they tried to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States. The two men—Tommie Smith and John Carlos—did this to represent unity in Black America. In the United States, during that time, a major racial discrimination was happening where the Black Americans, due to their dark colour, were looked down upon and were not treated as equals with the White Americans in order to grab international attention on this issue the athletes decided to put on black glove and raise the clenched fist when they were being awarded their medals.
