On June 22, 1967, I picked up a copy of the Pacific Stars and Stripes — the official military newspaper — in Saigon to find, there on Page 1, a story about Muhammad Ali, whom a judge had just sentenced to up to five years in prison. He was, at the time, the greatest boxer in the world, even if he’d been stripped of his world heavyweight title months before. His crime? Refusing the draft.
The conviction and sentencing — he got a $10,000 fine as well — had happened two days earlier, but it took that long for the news to travel to us in Vietnam. It wasn’t exactly a shocker: He had first refused induction at the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston that spring, and refused to be inducted into the Army, saying he was a conscientious objector — “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong,” he had told reporters.
Still, everyone in Vietnam was talking about the verdict. Ali, who had recently converted to Islam but whom many papers still referred to by his birth name, Cassius Clay, was big news, whatever he did, and he was easily the most famous person to refuse to serve in Vietnam thus far. And he did so for reasons that spoke directly to the complex social upheavals of the time. Because America treated its black people as second-class citizens, the champ said he’d stand his ground by refusing to serve in its Army. As for the war in Vietnam, Muhammad Ali, condemned racial discrimination in America, declaring that “no Vietcong ever called me nigger.”
Ali’s actions were in stark contrast to that of one of his predecessors, during a preceding war. In January 1942, just a month after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Joe Louis, the world’s heavyweight boxing champion, went to Camp Upton on Long Island, N.Y., to enlist as a private in the United States Army. Like Ali, Louis was a black man from the South — Chambers County, Ala., to be precise — and he also used his sports celebrity to talk about race. Asked about his decision to volunteer for our nation’s racially segregated Army, Joe Louis — cherished by Americans of all colors and persuasions as “The Brown Bomber” — replied, “Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain’t going to fix them.”
Huck77 on June 26th, 2019 at 04:26 UTC »
For those of you who are not boxing fans, the years Ali lost were three of what would have been his athletic prime. He likely lost some peak years, and if you are inactive that long, not competing with top level guys, you rust. There were also two Alis, in terms of style, technique, and methods. The earlier Ali was bouncy, moved around with grace, and played sharpshooter with laser accurate punches. The later Ali was slower, more stationary, depended on rolling and evading punches, but still had the.accuracy. one of the things that has always amazed me about Ali is how he evolved as a fighter to work around his decline.
PrecedentialAssassin on June 26th, 2019 at 03:14 UTC »
You are my opposer when I want freedom. You are my opposer when I want justice. You are my opposer when I want equality. You won't even stand up for me in America for my religious beliefs, and you want me to go somewhere and fight — but you won't even stand up for me here at home! - Muhammad Ali. Still the Greatest.
3dprinterdicks1 on June 26th, 2019 at 01:47 UTC »
Gotta love George Carlin's take on this:
Muhammad Ali's back at work again; he's being allowed to work once again, Muhammad Ali. He wasn't for awhile, as you know. For about three and a half years, they didn't let him work. 'Course he had an unusual job, beating people up. It's a strange calling, y'know? But it's one you're entitled to. Government didn't see it that way. Government wanted him to change jobs. Government wanted him to kill people. He said, "No, that's where I draw the line. I'll beat 'em up, but I don't wanna kill 'em." And the government said, "Well, if you won't kill 'em, we won't let you beat 'em up! Ah, ha, ha, ha."