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On this day in history ...
Muhammad Ali wasn't the greatest simply because of his boxing skills. He was also concerned about world events and civil rights. He opposed the Vietnam War, was arrested for refusing to be drafted, and on
June 20, 1967 was convicted in Houston of draft evasion. Ali was stripped of his boxing title and had his license suspended. He did not fight again for nearly four years, losing millions in the process.
He said at the time:
Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No, I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here..... If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people, they wouldn't have to draft me, I'd join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years.
For his refusal to be drafted Muhammad Ali was both condemned and exalted in America. At the same time, by sacrificing his title in the name of a larger cause, he was breathing life into one of his most
famous quotes:
- Mark
FYI, this is re-posted from one year ago.
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