During the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City there were two main events known as the student massacre and racial protest. The student protest took place at the Tlateloco Plaza. The students protested the incarceration of members of the National Student Strike Committee. The students were then murdered in cold blood by army platoons. There wasn't an exact count of the number of dead students but there was an estimate of 337 students.
In regards to Sage and Eitzen's idea of Vehicle of Change in Society seems to relate to the 1968 Olympics. The reason being is that Mexico wanted to show others that they were emerging and did not need to be associated with the title "third world" anymore. But then this caused the students to protest because they believed that their were other issues that they should of dealt with before they considered hosting the Olympic games.
I would say that politics is involved in sports. An example we can see is the 1968 games. Since students felt that there were political issues that should of been discussed or that should have been dealt with before the games. Since this did not happen this was one of the main reasons for the student massacre.
I liked your thought that Mexico was trying to break free from the "third world" label that other countries had put on them. Could it also have been an attempt at an "opiate for the masses"? Perhaps Mexico thought that the Olympic Games would bring peace to the other facets of society and were actually proven quite wrong? Sam Winsor
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Olympic games shed a positive light on the country hosting them. The protesters made a good point but I think it wasn't the right way to dispute it.
ReplyDelete-Conner Morris