Critical art & graphics
Resistance archives
1984 | Michael Novick – Breakthrough (reprinted by antiracist.org in 2020) | Olympics 1984: Counter-insurgency goes for the gold
Faced with an erosion of popular support for intervention in Central America, it is a major opportunity to get Americans rooting for the “home team, the greatest country on earth.” Behind the patriotic hoopla, the official Olympic logo of Sam the Eagle designed by Disney, the candy bars and Olympic banks, another more ominous development is taking shape. Under the guise of providing “security against a possible terrorist threat,” the government is developing a police state apparatus in the sun and smog of Southern California. – Michael Novick, 1984
Other key resources
Policing
2020 | NOlympics LA – Pick a Side LA | LA84 — A history of brutality [Webpage]
2017 | Max Felker-Kantor – The Washington Post | The 1984 Olympics fueled L.A.’s war on crime. Will the 2028 Games do the same? [Article]
2012 | Dave Zirin – The Nation | Want to Understand the 1992 LA Riots? Start with the 1984 LA Olympics [Article]
1984 | Robert Lindsey – The New York Times | The Olympics: Los Angeles ’84; Security is called largest in peacetime [Article]
1984 | Joel Sappell – LA Times | Officers Ready: Criminals: No Olympic Gold [Article]
1984 | Eric Malnic – LA Times | ‘Stalag USC’ Awaits Olympic Visitors: Prison-Like Atmosphere Outside Gives Way to Festiveness Inside [Article]
1984 | Boris Yaro – LA Times | Street Crime Crackdown Begins Near Coliseum [Article]
Policing and homelessness
2018 | Jenna Chandler – Curbed LA | LA ‘sterilized’ its streets for the ’84 Olympics—how will it treat the homeless in 2028? [Article]
1984 | Kevin Roderick – LA Times | Derelicts lose the precious little in sweep by city crew [Article]
1984 | Diana Griego – LA Times | Olympic-Sized Rates Force Motel Residents to Area Park [Article]
1984 | Kevin Roderick – LA Times | City Polishing Its Image for Olympic Visitors: Horse Patrols Ride Herd on Transients [Article]
Privatization and capitalism
2016 | Laura Reston – The New Republic | The Year the Olympic Games Sold Out [Article]
Legacy myths
2019 | Jonny Coleman – Deadspin | Who Does Los Angeles’s Olympic Legacy Really Serve? [Article]
1984 | Nancy Rivera – LA Times | McDonald’s Olympic Cap Promotion Brings Lawsuit [Article]