With the future of track and field gracing the first day of the Penn Relays, the past and present of the sports industry spoke on the role of race and activism in sports and how it has evolved over the past 35 years.
Those who decided to take a break from the Franklin Field festivities were treated to an all-star panel featuring John Carlos, the infamous Olympic medalist who raised his black-gloved fist on the podium at the 1968 games in Mexico City in protest against racism and exploitation in the U.S.
Other panelists included Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow, Temple University professor and coach Tina Sloan Green, Penn Avalon Professor Michael Eric Dyson, Philadelphia Magazine editor-in-chief Larry Platt and lawyer Keven Davis, who currently represents Venus and Serena Williams.
Kicking off the panel, Carlos mainly discussed the trials behind becoming a renowned black athlete at a time of such deep prejudice.
He recalled asking his father why he could not be an Olympic swimmer and hearing, "Remember swimming in the pool and each time you or your friend jumped in, another white kid jumped out? That's why."
But just as Carlos could not shy away from the Olympics, neither could he shy away from his politically conscious actions, especially his protest at the Olympics and his motives behind them.
"It's great to be honored as an Olympian, but it's even greater to be honored as an American and being able to walk down the street anywhere or anytime you like," Carlos said. "That's even greater than breaking a tape."
Up next, Winslow addressed his controversial Hall of Fame induction speech in which -- over live television -- he targeted racism in the sports industry.
When reporters asked him afterwards if he thought the Hall of Fame was the proper forum for such activism, Winslow responded, "If I called a press conference to talk about these issues, would you show? No."
It was at this point that the discussion moved toward the current climate of racism in sports and current athletes' apparent lack of activism.
"When you're a black athlete, you're not black," Winslow said. "You are an athlete."
"If we do not use that platform we have to speak up, then we are wrong," he continued.
Dyson, known for his charismatic oration, began with a comment about Platt taking him to Wednesday's 76ers' game that, while said in jest, carried a strong point in the discussion.
"White men can't jump, but they got the tickets," Dyson said.
Joking aside, Dyson argued that while racism still exists, everyone is all "in the same boat together" on the issue and that a drive to "make way and help create things" is necessary.
Every subsequent speaker, too, seemed to strike a chord within the vibrant audience.
"I thought all of them were well-spoken and very powerful," College freshman Nicolas Walters said. "I was glad that everyone had a chance to speak their mind outright."
