Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
i fully agree with this. ali was a great boxer/athlete, but he also had his convictions about many things, and he stood up for those convictions where most people would have toed the company line, as it were. i also dont care what anyone says about him, i have great respect for him, and when he retired from boxing, the sport was never the same. what really saddens me though is that so many are excoriating ali for things that were done in the distant past.
"what really saddens me though is that so many are excoriating ali for things that were done in the distant past."
They probably don't realize the growth he went through and all the good he did, even later in life.
That right? Then you must REALLY hate George "MIA" Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Trump and 99% of the GOP that were eligible for serving in Vietnam but used lame medical or family excuses to not serve. Poor Donald! He so-called "says" he had a "bad foot" and so he couldn't possibly fight. I imagine it was a very traumatic injury. Funny thing. He was recently asked by a reporter for the NY Post which foot was injured. Trump couldn't remember. How's that for coward? But, that's how they roll in right wingnut land!
As to Ali, he paid a price for refusing to serve, but you probably don't know anything about history wso this is educational for you:
He paid dearly -- he was banned for his work, boxing. What price did Orange Man pay? None.
People don't choose to have bone spurs. People DO choose to convert to a religion that embraces being a Conscientious Objector.
"Fixated?" The dude is the presumptive nominee of one of two major political parties and you call it "fixated?" I mean, if I spent time posting on a political forum (instead of talking about it with a state-ordered psych exam) endlessly fretting about my pink bits being exposed to a trans, or about transgenders and bathrooms, yeah, that's sick and fixated, but that ain't this.
Yes, you're fixated on Trump and rail on about him in many threads even though the topic has nothing to do with him.
He was certainly no coward for standing up for what he believed in.
"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 yet another poor nation".
"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me ******, they never lynched me, they never put no dogs on me, they didn't rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my Mother and Father. Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail".
He seemed to have convictions and thought for himself. He would not sensitize his words for the rabid sheep that have been brainwashed to despise people that are Anti-War. He understood the consequences and was willing to face them too. LOVE him for that. Coward? LMAO!
The real cowards are the chicken hawks-Dick Cheney, Donald Trump. They LOVE war, and love sending our mostly poor young men and women off to die for monetary gain, but would never fight in one themselves or ever allow their children to do so.
WAR IS A RACKET "In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"
Do you have a link for his views on women and Jews? I'd rather read exactly what you are referring to.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,381,135 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlfieBoy
He paid dearly -- he was banned for his work, boxing. What price did Orange Man pay? None.
The country paid dearly because LBJ, McNamara, Nixon et al weren't smart enough to realize we had no good reason to fight that war either. Ali took a stand and I will never fault him for it.
He was a racial-realist and he grouped and identified most closely with HIS race.......thumbs WAY up to Mr. Ali.
He saw how filthy, corrupt and senseless the Vietnam mess was, and boldly refused to be involved in that nonsense......thumbs WAY up for Mr. Ali.
ITA with the above. On his supposed anti-Semitism, I have never read or heard him say anything negative in regards to Jews. I feel that the OP is basing their own personal belief of Ali being an anti-semite due to his original affiliation with the NOI. Ali left NOI like many did after the death of Malcolm X and subscribed to a more pure version of Islam which did not include a hatred of Jews.
On Ali's marriages/women, many men are and were the same. Many women are the same as well. I don't think his personal romantic/intimate relationships are any of our business. I do know that the main pictures that I have seen of Ali since his death that have garnered the most emotion from me, are the ones of him with his children, especially when they were babies. They are beautiful pictures and I have heard many of his daughters especially speak of him as a loving, caring father.
Quote:
Originally Posted by r small
Ali was a good man but he had a cruel streak earlier on. Referring to Joe Frazier as a gorilla. Supposedly Frazier resented that to the very end.
The bold was my only negative view of Ali - that he called Frazier both a gorilla and an "Uncle Tom."
Frazier was neither and Ali did apologize to Frazier multiple times for that. He admitted he did it for publicity/media attention and that it had a negative impact on Frazier. Frazier did finally accept his apology before he died but I do feel that was a dirty thing to do to Joe Frazer as Ali, like today was VERY popular and people believed the things he said at face value and it ruined Joe's reputation in a way and made him bitter.
On Ali's life in general, I think he was a great man. I feel as a black man he took a mighty stance and for good reason in not going to Vietnam and in not trying to run away from the consequences. Like he did in the ring, he fought to ensure a victory in the courts and in his personal life at that time, something that shows true grit.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
