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Ali at 70: Legacy endures for new generation

Sports Jan. 13, 2012 - 06:45AM JST ( 11 )

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Ali is recalled for his flamboyant character and youthful charm

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11 Comments

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Mr SushiJan. 13, 2012 - 07:54AM JST

Legacy of respect?.... As an middle-age American.....Ali was one of the most disrespectful and big-mouthed athetes of all time... Only his disease shut him up.
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sfjp330Jan. 13, 2012 - 08:57AM JST

I respect Ali for his stance on Vietnam war. Ali brought awareness to the problems of Vietnam war. He was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. At the time, widespread protests against the Vietnam War had not yet begun. Ali articulated the reason to oppose the war for a generation of young Americans, and his words served as a touchstone for the racial and antiwar upheavals in the 60's. Ali's example inspired Martin Luther King Jr. to voice his own opposition to the war for the first time.
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Paul ArensonJan. 13, 2012 - 10:23AM JST

Mabo: "with a name like that...."

Racism has no place here. Cannot make assumptions about your nationality/ethnicity, but I know that ever since 9-11, even family members (I am American) stateside have been bitten by the racism/anti-terrorism bug. A relative asked me to stop sending her my TokyoProgressive newsletter (anti-war, anti-Empire) in 2002 because she didn't want to risk being called "the niece of a terrorist". Would not be surprised if Ali were on a no-fly list, as was Cat Steven ever since converting to Islam. And yet targeted killings and drone strikes by our side somehow evade the terrorist label.... So please stop equating Islam with terrorism.

I echo sfjp330's sentiments. Post 9-11 we see the militarization of police response to protest against all sorts of ills, including a continuation of war that Ali and, yes, King opposed (for which he was attacked by the so-called "liberal media" and even other activists), although this has been whitewashed from official history. You can check it out check it out online though; see his anti-war speech at the Riverside church--"Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence".

King and Ali spoke out against the racism that saw minorities recruited to kill other non-white people while they enjoyed less than equality in their own land. This was when there was a draft that saw the poor unable to escape military service those better off could through educational deferments; today the poor are still the first to go, since military service is one of the only open doors to advancement. This was when opposing the war earned such ironic gems as, "go back to Russia where they are not free like you are to say what you want". It seems we have not progressed very far since those days, when we are supposed to represent the freedom everyone else wants yet those who take a stand against our own brand of state sponsored terrorism are demonized and even criminalized for doing so.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
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WilliBJan. 13, 2012 - 05:59PM JST

sfjp330:

" I respect Ali for his stance on Vietnam war. Ali brought awareness to the problems of Vietnam war. He was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs "

That was the biggest crock of all. His adopted religion has no objection to war, to the contrary, it has actually holy war as a central concept.

A pacifist argument religious argument could conceivably made by a convert to Jainism or Buddhism, but not by Mohammed Ali. It is a testimony to ignorance that he got away with that.
1

JohnBeckerJan. 14, 2012 - 02:43AM JST

@WilliB - Ali didn't "get away" with anything. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which allowed his petition. For his trouble, he was stripped of his titles and lost nearly 4 years of the prime of his career. That hardly sounds like he came out ahead on the deal.
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WolfpackJan. 14, 2012 - 07:35AM JST

Ali is a selfish, self-promoting loud mouth. He did very little for the cause of civil rights so let's not pat him on the back for pretending to have done so.

He is an icon among the cultural left because when his nation called, he turned and denounced his country instead. The country that despite treating other blacks so badly in the south, made him a millionaire many times over. One of the 1%.

Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson were real sports icons who understand their time in history and rejected the selfishness of Muhammad Ali. They are the ones that paved the way for black athletes. This is a puff piece on a polarizing and controversial man.

All that said, he was a great fighter who took part in some truly epic bouts. He has his place in boxing history. But many dislike him for his leftist politics and in your face self promotion.
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sfjp330Jan. 14, 2012 - 08:25AM JST

WolfpackJan. 14, 2012 - 07:35AM JST. when his nation called, he turned and denounced his country instead.

I wonder why? There were over 58,000 dead and 500,000 soldiers with mental problems in Vietnam war. Even today, many still have mental problems and are homeless and VA hospitals turn their back on them. What were we fighting for? Many young people turned their backs and left for Canada. Ali went through legal process and paid the dues. If you were drafted in the Army at that time, most ended up in MOS as 11 Bush or 11 Charley after basic and after AIT, you would end up in Bein Hoa for further assignments. You probably never shot bazooka, M60 or let alone M16. I have. What Ali did was made young people aware of the problems with this war.
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WolfpackJan. 14, 2012 - 01:51PM JST

@sfjp330:

What were we fighting for?

OK, so hundreds of thousands were killed during WWII, many more were disabled and still suffer today and what were we fighting for? Germany and Italy never attacked the US so why did we fight them? The same reason the US fought in Vietnam. Ali didn't care about the people of Vietnam or the million plus in Cambodia that died after the US left the region. They just didn't care about the oppression imposed on millions of Asians by followers of a failed and discredited Communist ideology. He, and the other draft dodgers and those that took the rich way out, cared about their own safety - that's all. I don't blame them for being scared; but don't come back and say they were great people because they couldn't bring themselves to do their duty. I have family members that fought in Vietnam and the experience had a huge impact on their lives - in many ways negative. But by far they did the right thing for their country just as soldiers did in wars past.

You probably never shot bazooka, M60 or let alone M16. I have. What Ali did was made young people aware of the problems with this war.

I have served in the military myself so don't come off to me like I'm some kind of chicken hawk. What Ali did was to help young people to turn their backs on their fellow citizens during a very difficult time in their lives. The returning military men were treated like garbage by these young people. Ali didn't go to Vietnam so some other kid went in his place. Maybe a young black man, or a 18 year old country white kid. No matter, he got to run his mouth acting all indignant about being asked to do what other less well off blacks and other Americans did in his place.
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calm downJan. 15, 2012 - 08:50AM JST

Ali was too scared to do his duty ??Would the heavy weight champion of the world be placed in the front line of a battle zone or in an office in cotton wool...kudos to you and your family wolfpack for choosing as you did...but Ali risked and lost a hell of a lot more by not going than if he had of gone...the mouth was all performance,and to me he was a phenomenal boxer-entertainer-athlete who has done so much for people less fortunate post career
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WolfpackJan. 15, 2012 - 11:56AM JST

@calm down:

Ali was too scared to do his duty ?

Maybe so. Despite his celebrity, I would hope that he would have been subjected to the same dangers that my father and brother-in-law faced.

but Ali risked and lost a hell of a lot more by not going than if he had of gone

Apparently, you never heard of 'The Thrilla in Manilla". He made good money from that fight and his greatest boxing fame.

the mouth was all performance,and to me he was a phenomenal boxer-entertainer-athlete who has done so much for people less fortunate post career

His mouth made him into punk. Worse still, what came out of his mouth helped to divide the nation much like other leftists tried to divide the nation during the Iraq War. Luckily, the current generation of Ali's failed to force America to leave the war prematurely. When people cannot subsume their own personal and political hatreds during times of war, then a nation will never be able to unite. What Ali and the Left did during their heyday can be seen today in America's current inability to come together during a fiscal crisis that threatens Americas future.

The excuse for Ali is that he lived in a time of discrimination against blacks. The fact that he could not see the greater good that Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson did, makes him human and I don't blame him for that. However, the reason why Louis and Robinson will always be greater than Ali is because of their ability to rise above their personal circumstances. Ali is a divisive figure today - many patriotic people have no respect for him for what he did. For Louis and Robinson, the opposite is true - they are people that unite Americans and respect for them is even greater for that reason.

He was an amazing boxer but a selfish and divisive public figure.
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cleoJan. 15, 2012 - 12:57PM JST

When people cannot subsume their own personal and political hatreds during times of war, then a nation will never be able to unite.

And if it's an unjust, unnecessary war then it's better if the country doesn't unite behind it. I can't believe that anyone still thinks there was anything patriotic about the Vietnam War. Self-serving politicians in no danger themselves sent America's young off into harm's way for political reasons, not for the sake of the country.

The selfish and divisive public figures, the ones failing to do their duty, were those who were stoking the fires of war, not the people saying Hell No.

It's no one's duty to go and kill and die on the say-so of some self-serving politician, and Ali's refusal in no way reflects on his patriotism. (Whether he's patriotic or not, I don't know and am not really interested. Just saying, refusing to swallow the coolaid dished up by the politicians of the day is probably a sign of greater, not lesser, love of country and one's fellow man)