The "Johnny Bright Incident"

The "Johnny Bright Incident" was a violent, and most likely racially motivated, on-field assault against African-American player Johnny Bright by White American player Wilbanks Smith during an American college football game in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game was significant in itself as it marked the first time that an African American athlete with a national profile and of critical importance to the success of his Drake University team had played against Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) on their home turf.

Bright's injury also highlighted the racial tensions of the times and assumed notoriety when it was captured in what was later to become both a widely disseminated and eventually Pulitzer Prize winning photo sequence.