Task 2

 The Biggest Challenges Outside The Ring

Muhammad Ali when he refused a draft in Houston

  Muhammad Ali was well known throughout the world as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, during his career he faced plenty of trouble with his opponents in the ring. However, his greatest fight was not in the ring, it was during a time where civil unrest was still going on and minorities such as African Americans, Asians, Muslims and Indians were labelled as second class citizens. This of course included Muhammad Ali whose faith, ideology and actions went against the ignorant and arrogant white supremacists of the era. Muhammad Ali declined to be conscripted into the military in 1966 because of his religious views and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War, he was found guilty of draft dodging and had his boxing titles removed, causing him to be one of the most hated men of America during a time of conflict.

   

Muhammad Ali giving a speech

During a time when the United States was at war with Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong''. The effect has also caused him to be banned from boxing for three years. His refusal to join the army was due to his beliefs that the war was unethical, barbaric and against the teachings of Islam, considering himself as a conscientious objector (An Individual who has asserted the right to refuse military duty due to freedom of thought, conscience, or religion). Muhammad Ali was quoted “ War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in any wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers”. He further stated that the Americans should not fight as the aggressor but should defend themselves when attacked. His beliefs were that why should he fight a war for a country that does not stand up for his rights as an American citizen and as a human being. The unequal treatment of the African American community caused a great anger to dwell up inside of Muhammad Ali internalizing a frustration towards the unjust government that held the reigns on the life of all American.

An anti-war campaign during the war

  Ali viewed the Vietnam War as a practice in genocide. In addition, he used his platform as a boxing champion to draw parallels between the conflicts going on at home and abroad, asking: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and travel 10,000 miles away to drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?" Judge Joe Ingraham gave Cassius Clay (as they insisted on calling him in court) the maximum punishment of five years in a federal prison and a $10,000 fine for these remarks as well as the act itself. The extremely severe punishment was closely related to a Beltway-wide, bipartisan agreement to punish Ali and prevent him from emerging as a figurehead for the anti-war movement. The U.S. Congress voted 337-29 to extend the drought for an additional four years on the day of Ali's conviction. The desecration of the flag was likewise become a federal offence by a vote of 385 to 19 against. Their worries about a growing anti-war movement were justified. For the public's acceptance of the Vietnam "police action," the summer of 1967 served as a turning point. The news coming out of Southeast Asia was getting worse even though the Tet Offensive, which exposed the myth that the United States was winning the war, was still six months away." If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die right here fighting you," Muhammad Ali says in archival footage of a college campus speaking tour he took nearly 50 years ago. Banned from boxing in 1967 after his conviction for refusing to serve in Vietnam, Ali had no immediate source of income to support his family. That led to the tour — a footnote in the man's history few documentaries have explored until now.

US army Helicopters in Vietnam

 The interracial problem that dwells in America has been around since its early independence. Despite the modernism and the advance technology, America during the 19th century still has some form of backward thinking that keeps people from forming peace. During Nov 1 1955, America together with South Vietnam declared war with North Vietnam (Viet Cong).During his 18th of birthday in 1962, Muhammad Ali was registered for conscription in the United States Army registered as class 1-A. In 1964 he was reclassified as 1-Y as he failed to pass the qualifying test for the Us Army. Later the US Army lowered their standard for entering the army and Muhammad Ali was recategorize as 1-A. In March 1966, Muhammad Ali refused orders to be drafted into the armed forces. He was subsequently denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he was not able to box from March 1967 - October 1970 (from age 25 to almost age 29) while his case was still on appeal. This was before his case was withdrawn in 1971 June 28 with a unanimous 8-0 decision by the Supreme Court of The United States. During this period of his inactivity, opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's position gained more sympathy. He lectured at colleges across the state, criticising the Vietnam War and openly advocating for racial justice and African-American pride. Surprisingly, in 1967 Muhammad Ali got married to the love of his life Belinda Boyd and had children Maryum ( born in 1968), Jamillah and Rasheda (both born in 1970), and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972).

Martin Luther King together with Malcolm X

The U.S. Army was the first to initiate a series of problems that the individual would face head on. Boxing champion Muhammad Ali, a Muslim, refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army due to religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service and was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title because of it. On April 28, 1967, with the United States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.” (History.com Editors, 2009).Next, Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community and ex mentor to Muhammad Ali. Then we have his friend, Stokely Carmichael, who tutored the heavyweight champion on the nuances of his own groundbreaking anti-war activism. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a key figure in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. quickly followed Ali and Carmichael, providing gravitas to the budding anti-war movement with his Riverside Church speech on April 4, 1967 in New York City.

Muhammad Ali helping those in need

Muhammad's life and career have been extensively covered in national and international newspapers, both on the front pages and inside the sports sections. His early adherence to the Nation of Islam and insistence on using the name Muhammad Ali rather than Cassius Clay, his "slave name," signaled the beginning of a new era for black pride. The emerging antiwar movement of the 1960s was foreshadowed by his reluctance to enlist in the US Army. Furthermore, his willingness to have his well advertised fights in places like Kinshasa, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur indicated a change away from superpower supremacy towards a growing concern for the developing globe. Muhammad, who dared to defy political convention in order to assist those in need, participated in humanitarian missions in Afghanistan and North Korea, delivered desperately needed medical supplies to an embargoed Cuba, travelled to Iraq and helped secure the release of 15 American hostages, and, after Nelson Mandela's release, made a humanitarian trip to South Africa. Today, Muhammad has made advancing the concerns of the developing countries a top priority in his life. He has helped feed the hungry around the world more than 232 million meals. He has hand-delivered food and medical supplies across continents to indigent locations like Sister Beltran's orphanage for Liberian refugees in the Ivory Coast, the Harapan Kita Hospital for Children in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the country's street children.

A video discussion that our group had about the topic :