re: The real reason Muhammad Ali refused the draft

I grew up during the era of Muhammad Ali, ABC and Howard Cosell.

The assertion in the OP assumes that Ali disagreed with the notion of not fighting for whitey, or dislike for white men in general.

That is a wild theory and even a half truth. Muhammad Ali did not like white people and he barely hid it.

Does anyone else remember it like this?

quote:

---

is that Ali refused induction not out of principle but from fear of disobeying Elijah Muhammad, who had stipulated that the champ not serve in a “white man’s war.”

---

IMHO, "fear" is the wrong word. Ali wanted to follow the advice of Elijah Muhammed not out of fear, but, out of Ali's desire to be a good "church" member.