The Great One: I Refuse To Lose
Kevin Wilson
Full Sail University
Muhammed Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Muhammed Ali became one of the greatest boxers of all-time and one of the world’s most recognizable figures. In 1954 at the age of 12 he started training with a Louisville policeman by the name of Joe Martin. He won his first debut as an amateur fighter and earned $4 for the fight. He would continue to train with Martin until 1959, and by 1960 he had earned a spot on the U.S Olympic team. On September 5th, he defeated Zbigniew Pietrzkowski to win the Olympic Light Heavyweight gold medal. By February 25, 1964 the 22 year old Cassius Clay earned an opportunity to fight the Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston, he defeated Liston despite being a 7-1 underdog. The next day after he had won the heavyweight championship, he announced his membership in the Nation of Islam. On March 6, 1964, he adopts his new name “Muhammed Ali”. In that same year Ali was drafted into the U.S Armed Forces, and by 1966 while the U.S was fighting in Vietnam, he announced that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army. He openly considered himself a conscientious objector and his reason for refusal was due to his religious beliefs prohibited him to fight in Vietnam. He famously stated that “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong …They never called me a negro”. On April 28, 1967 in Houston, TX at his scheduled induction into the U.S. Army, Muhammed Ali repeatedly refused to step forward when his name was called. On that day his boxing license was suspended and he was stripped of his title.
Muhammed Ali continued to fight but now he was fighting the U.S government on charges that he intentionally refused the military draft. On June 27, 1967 Ali was found guilty for refusing to serve in the armed forces by the U.S Justice Department and banned from boxing that lasted 3 ½ years. Different media outlets such as the newspapers, television crews and magazine publications covered the story. According to Time, sportswriter Harold Conrad stated “He threw his life away on one toss of the dice for the something he believed in” and that “Overnight he became a ‘nigger’ again”. The Chicago Tribune ran 11 anti-Ali draft stories in a single issue, and Sports Illustrated Jack Olsen wrote “Cassius Clay has a blind and total belief in every word of message to the black man, and thus becomes a rare individual: a genuine, if misguided, conscientious objector”.
The story was influenced by the media and had provoked others into calling Muhammad Ali a traitor and appearing with signs outside the courthouse. Even Ali attorneys was receiving backlash for representing Ali as legal counsel, and on one evening someone sent an anonymous newspaper clipping to Quinnan Hodges, Muhammed Ali local associate counsel, that read “Houston’s great nigger lawyer”. The story had now grown from a boxer that refuse to join the military to a racial issue, they had both white and black folks picketing near the courthouse for different reasons. You had some black supporters of Muhammed Ali and Whites that wanted him to be convicted; but also, they had a white group that simply wanted to end the Vietnam war and to see better efforts for civil rights and about two dozen black folks carrying signs and singing “Burn, Baby, Burn” and “ Nothing kills a nigger like too much love”. It no longer was about refusal to enter the military but yet an opportunity for those who dislike Muhammed Ali to voice their hatred towards him.
It was truly an historical moment, never before had someone of Muhammed Ali caliber and status had refuse to serve his country in the U.S Armed Forces. For 3 years Ali would fight his conviction with an appeal, and make a living by lecturing, and giving speeches at universities and Muslim gatherings around the United States. Muhammed Ali started to gain support as anti-war sentiment increased, and in 1971 the U.S Supreme Court in Clay v. United States would rule 8-0 that Ali had met the three standards for conscientious objector. That same year in “The Fight of the Century” for a record purse of $2.5 million, Ali loss to undefeated champion Joe Frazier by unanimous decision.
Muhammed Ali retired in 1981, and learned he had Parkinson’s disease in 1984. He continues to spread goodwill around the world, once a fearless boxer that dominated opponents now continues to be a fearless fighter with a smile against a neurological disease that slows speech and body movement. But in 1996 in Atlanta, GA as the world watched, tears were shed by many as the man whose beliefs had once divided a nation was now a unifying – and beloved – force, as he stood alone, with his hands trembling, he lit the flaming cauldron to signify the start of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
References
Lipsyte, R. (1967, April 29). Clay refuses army oath; Stripped of boxing crown. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali-army.html?_r=1
Cummings, D. (2010, June 20). On this day: Muhammad Ali convicted of draft evasion. Retrieved from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day–Muhammad-Ali-Convicted-of-Draft-Evasion.html
The Associated Press (1964, February 28). Clay says he has adopted islam religion and regards it as way to peace. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali-islam.html?_r=2
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