Tommie Smith accepts that it's not the man they remember most, it's the image. It's not the Olympic gold medal, it's the black-gloved right fist raised high above the medal stand in Mexico City as the U.S. national anthem played in 1968.

"There are two me's," Smith said. "There's me on the victory stand, and there's me walking down the street."

A little telephone test proved his point Thursday before he spoke at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at UNC.

N.C. State sprinter A'Tolani Akinkuoto, a Nigerian native whose family moved to North Carolina 10 years ago, was asked whether the name Tommie Smith meant anything to him.

"Doesn't ring a bell," Akinkuoto said Thursday.

Smith was that guy who bowed his head and raised a fist in silent protest, as did teammate and third-place finisher John Carlos, after the 200-meter final at the 1968 Summer Games.

"OK, yeah, I've seen that image," the NCSU junior said.

A similar response came from Dennis Boone of St. Augustine's College, the Division II national outdoor champion in the 100 and 200. At the mention of Smith's name, nothing. At a description of the picture, "I know what you're talking about now," Boone said.

"I think it was really important for African-Americans to step up to the plate like that, because racism and segregation still go on, but it was really strong back then," Boone said, "and for them to show their pride, I think, took a lot out of them."

Forty years after his stand on the stand, Smith understands that his life is still defined in this way. And he's still delivering a message about human rights -- one he believes remains relevant to today's students. While acknowledging how much has changed -- he referenced the black Democratic nominee for president -- a lot has not, said Smith, 64, who supports Barack Obama.

Like what?

"Constitutional rights, very simple," he said. "No matter where you are in this system or even around the world, there is always a challenge to make it better."

In 1968, Smith and Carlos were challenging inequities in education, housing and hiring, and the apartheid policies of South Africa. For their actions, the U.S. team was ordered by International Olympic Committee boss Avery Brundage to send them home immediately, or the entire team would be banned from the Games.

No matter how many times he tries to explain it, however, some just won't forgive or forget. He has no relationship, for example, with the U.S. Olympic Committee, he said. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame includes seven members of the '68 track and field team, as well as Brundage, but not Tommie Smith or John Carlos.

"We did what we thought was necessary, not to curse a nation, not to spawn hatred, but to bring attention to [issues]," Smith said, "and usually when you bring attention to something that wants to be kept quiet, you are certainly not in vogue. I wasn't then, and I'm still not in some people's mind, because some people view me as militant, a Communist, a Black Panther, a hater of white folks and all this stuff."

The voice on the phone projects neither anger nor bitterness. It sounds at once proud and good-natured, determined and conciliatory. Smith has maintained that the one-fisted salute that so infuriated the predominantly white sports establishment was not simply about being black in America.

"I just want people to understand I'm not here just to talk about 'black,' " he said before arriving in Chapel Hill. "I'm here to talk about humanity. I was a black athlete in Mexico City. I'm still a black man. The ideology of my color won't change ... [but] 1968 wasn't just about the black athlete or the black man. It was about a human stand."

Ironically, the act that made him a pariah now helps support him. Smith, who retired in 2005 from teaching and coaching at Santa Monica (Calif.) College, makes about 25 appearances a year, with fees ranging from no charge to $15,000. His Web site offers memorabilia, such as his autobiography and black-fisted coffee mugs and T-shirts.

If Smith wishes he were remembered more for his track exploits, he won't back away from "the victory stand me."

"No, no. I was brought up to believe that if you stick with something and you know it's right in your heart, something good is going to come of it," Smith said.

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