The mural is on the side of a Macdonaldtown house, and until
2006, was visible from Macdonaldtown station and passing trains.
It commemorates the heroic black power salute at the 68
Olympics by African American US Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos when
accepting their gold and bronze medals for the 200m sprint.
Norman, who won silver and is still the fastest Australian
of all time, showed his support for the pairs defiant salute by making his own
statement about racism and human rights – wearing an Olympic project for Human
Rights badge during the ceremony.
The incident was controversial at the time and despite
easily qualifying, Norman
was not selected by Australian Olympic officials to compete at the 1972 Munich
Olympics.
He was also not invited to the Sydney Olympics by organisers
and died in 2006.
Norman’s nephew, filmmaker Matt Norman, said: “For us it’s
the only representation of Peter that stands anywhere in the world and now that
it’s covered by barriers it’s once again been forgotten because of governmental
bureaucracy.”
Macdonaldtown resident Gretchen Miller said that RailCorp
had not asked residents about their thoughts on the mural.
“We feel at the very least RailCorp should transpose the
image onto the barrier itself,” Ms Miller said.
Source:
http://sydney-central.whereilive.com.au/news/story/memorable-moment-hidden-from-view/