So was I. And I recall that Ali was not perceived as some great civil rights leader.
Ali joining the Black Muslims had everything to do with race and in the south they had every right to hate whites.........
Ali joined the Nation of Islam to avoid the draft. So hating whites is the justification for joining a black racist organization? I guess you can use the same rationale for whites joining the KKK. FYI: Racism in the US was not confined to the South.
To be honest with you, I'm surprised that any blacks from the racially segregated south responded to their draft notices........
I would be surprised if they did not respond. You demean blacks by questioning their patriotism. There are plenty of people in this country who have grievances, perceived or otherwise. They don't use that as an excuse to avoid serving in time of war. At the time, Vietnam was called the "the White Man's War" by some. The CPUSA used the kind of logic and language you are using to convince blacks not to join the military.
Blacks were drafted into a segregated military in WWII. Many volunteered. When Truman integrated the military, there was no better institution that treated people fairly based on merit than the armed forces.
Sorry but I don't share any of Brunos views except maybe the womanizing and that I could not care less.
Bruno just provided the facts, as inconvenient as they might seem to some. Ali had feet of clay, pun intended. He was flawed in many ways. The Left has lionized him due to his refusal to enter the military during the Vietnam conflict. He also enabled those who got college deferments or did not serve to get on their moral high horse. I can only listen with amusement as I hear the excuses people of that era use to explain how they avoided serving. It reminds me of Patton's speech to the Third Army:
Then there's one thing you men will be able to say when this war is over and you get back home. Thirty years from now when you're sitting by your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks, 'What did you do in the great World War Two?' You won't have to cough and say, 'Well, your granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.' No sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say 'Son, your granddaddy rode with the great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named George Patton!'
I served in Vietnam and am proud of it. Ali was a great prize fighter. End of story.
AKA I'm a racist???? That was a clever subtle inference...........
Sorry bro but I don't share the same hatred of the blacks who became militant due to the racism they experienced while living in the south.........
And you also appear to be ignorant of the fact that Ali, after winning a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics still incurred the racism in the south by being denied service in a restaurant because he was black and subsequently threw his medal into the Ohio river.
He took a stand against the Vietnam war, stayed home and was banned from boxing for 4 years . I get it and I accept it.........He's more than paid for his decision both during and after his boxing career with all the humanitarian causes he has supported. A hell of a lot more than you or I combined have done.
So don't shove your moral superiority in my face simply because your are a Vietnam vet, because I served too.........
And that's all I'm going to say about that.