Short answer: visual source

Protest on the Olympic podium, 1968

Unit 4
3 points
About 13 minutes

You look at an image, artwork, photograph, map or chart (described in words here) and answer three or four short parts about what it shows, the developments behind it and connections across the course. On the exam: Section II, short-answer question 2 of 3 (required); the three short-answer questions share a suggested 40 minutes and are 18% of the score. In 2025 and 2026 this question had 3 parts (A–C).

The question and its sources

This source is an image, described here in words. Study the description, then answer parts A, B and C in a few complete sentences each; you don't need a thesis.

Source (image described in words)

The photograph shows the medal ceremony for the men's 200-meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Tommie Smith, who won the gold medal, and John Carlos, who won the bronze, both African American, stand on the podium during the US national anthem. Each bows his head and raises one fist in a black glove.

Both men stand without shoes, in black socks. Smith wears a black scarf; Carlos's tracksuit jacket is unzipped and he wears a string of beads. The silver medalist, Peter Norman of Australia, stands in front of them. All three men wear badges of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.

Source: Description of photographs of the 200-meter medal ceremony at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, October 16, 1968

Suggested time: 13 minutes

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Part (A)

1 point

Describe one way the protest shown reflects ideas of the Black Power movement.

Your answer to part (A)

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Part (B)

1 point

Describe one way the Black Power movement differed from the earlier Civil Rights movement.

Your answer to part (B)

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Part (C)

1 point

Using a specific example, explain how a later African American athlete continued the tradition of protest shown in the image.

Your answer to part (C)

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