Another event that Muhammad Ali had a big role in, in terms of the Civil Rights Movement was his refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War. In 1964, Ali failed to qualify for military service, because even though he passed the physical requirements, he failed the mental aptitude test. In 1966, the Vietnam War was expanding, and the United States needed more people for the war effort. The United States decided to lower their test scores for the qualification of military service so that more people could be qualified to take part in the military. These actions left Muhammad Ali eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. army. Ali could do one of two things: He could follow the United States Government and report to Vietnam, or he could follow his heart and faith. His initial concern about entering the draft wasn’t exactly religious or political; he thought he was in danger of having his life turned upside down. But when he first heard that he was eligible for the draft, he stated that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army and was publically considered a conscientious objector due to his religious beliefs. Ali stated that:
"War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers."
Ali wanted to
stay true to his religious beliefs, and not be a part of a conflict that wasn’t
his. Ali also enraged the U.S. Government and caused controversy around the
country and the world by saying: “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong,
they never called me a nigger.” Many
people were enraged by those comments and the media were livid over what he
said. On April 28, 1967, when the U.S. government called him for military
service, he refused to budge. Ali was warned that he was committing a felony
punishable by five years in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine. When the
U.S. government called him again for military service, Ali did not move
forward. He was arrested and the New York State Boxing Commission, as well as
other boxing commissions stripped Ali of his boxing license. He was basically
banned from boxing in the United States. Newspaper writer Milton Gross of the
New York Post talks about his refusal of induction by saying: “Clay seems to
have gone past the borders of faith, he has reached the boundaries of
fanaticism.”
At his trial on June 20, 1967, after 20 minutes of deliberation, the
jury found Ali guilty, and he was convicted of refusing induction into the
United States Army. Ali was sentenced to the maximum imprisonment of five years
in prison as well as a ten thousand dollar fine. He was also stripped of his
world heavyweight championship title and prohibited from fighting in state
boxing commissions across the country. Muhammad Ali’s couldn’t fight in a
boxing match for another three years. Over those three years, Ali fought to
appeal his conviction by staying in the public spotlight and giving speeches at
rallies in college and university campuses across the country, where there was
a strong opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali explains why he refused to fight in
Vietnam:
"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 while
so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?"
In 1970,
Muhammad Ali was able to fight again and in 1971, the United States Supreme
Court held a trial for Muhammad Ali. The Court of Appeal Board denied Muhammad
Ali’s claim to attain conscientious objector status, but didn’t state the
reasons as to which grounds were rejected and which were sustained. Therefore,
by unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reversed Ali’s conviction of refusing
induction into the United States Army.
Muhammad Ali’s refusal to fight in the Vietnam War averted attention
from Ali’s racial views and it put him in a position where many people,
including whites and white opinion-makers, could relate with him. Initially,
Muhammad Ali was looked at with suspicion, especially around the time when
Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 and when he took the persona of the Nation
of Islam. But when he refused to be inducted into the United States Army, it
started a bond between Ali, and the white liberal media.
After Muhammad Ali’s retirement from boxing in the early 1980’s, The
United States began to recognize Ali’s achievements inside and outside the
boxing ring. In 1996, Muhammad Ali was chosen to light the flame at the 1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a proud moment for him and the
American people, as around 3 billion people around the world watched him light
the flame to start the Olympic Games. In 2005, Ali received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony, and the United Nations Association
of Germany awarded him the Otto Hanh Peace Medal for:
“Outstanding
services to peace and international understanding, especially for his lifelong
commitment to the American civil rights movement and the cultural and spiritual
emancipation of black people throughout the world."
To this day,
Muhammad Ali has devoted himself to humanitarian efforts around the world, as
well as supporting education efforts of all kinds and encouraging people to
respect and better understand one another.
Today, Muhammad Ali represents the living personification of Martin
Luther King Jr’s message that all people are deserving of love. Sports
Journalist Kevin Izenberg described Ali’s life:
“Ironically, after all he went through, the affection for Ali is largely
colour-blind. Late in his career, he developed a quality that only a few people
have. He reached a point where, when people looked at him, they didn't see
black or white. They saw Ali. For a long time, that mystified him. He expected
black people to love him and crowd around him, but then he realized white
people loved him too; and that made him very happy.”
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