Olympic legend John Carlos speaks to James River students

Ethan Radtke, a socially conscious senior at James River High School in Chesterfield County, had doubts that track and field Hall of Famer John Carlos would accept an invitation to speak at his school.

Carlos proved him wrong yesterday.

Carlos, who won the 200-meter bronze medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and gold medalist Tommie Smith stunned the world during the medal ceremony while "The Star-Spangled Banner" played and the U.S. flag was raised.

Both athletes, wearing black socks and no shoes, bowed their heads and raised their black-glove-clad, clenched fists in the air to represent black power. The International Olympic Committee removed Carlos and Smith from the U.S. team.

Yesterday, Carlos stood in front of a student-filled auditorium at James River to tell his life story. He described growing up in a time of segregation and poverty.

"When I grew up in New York, I was a thug," he told students. "I was a thug like Robin Hood."

He said he broke into freight yards near Yankee Stadium to steal food and give it to people who needed it.

He also said that heroin spread like a disease through his community because people got high to forget their problems.

"Many black men, in particular, had a situation that was very difficult for them to face the guy in the mirror," he said.

He looked in textbooks and the movies to see himself represented, Carlos said, but "I wasn't there," he said. "I was the invisible man. I had no respect for me because I didn't see me."

As he pursued his dream to go to the Olympics, he tried basketball, boxing and swimming. Then he discovered running. Soon he became a notable track and field athlete and went to East Texas State University on a scholarship, then transferred to San Jose State University in California.

"In retrospect, I say to any of you guys, all you're supposed to do is make sure you have the foundation because you can't control where you're going to be," he told students. "God controls that."

Radtke contacted Carlos and asked him to speak as part of a capstone project for his Sports in Literature class.

Tracy Hamner and Peter Schumacher, both coaches and English teachers at James River, first considered offering a Sports in Literature course four years ago. Now, the course has grown from one to five classes, and a similar class is offered at Thomas Dale High School.

"I was interested to hear from an athlete that kind of transcended from sports into more of a social figure," said Radtke, who plays soccer. "I admire what both John Carlos and Tommie Smith showed during the 1968 Olympics."

Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .