Mohammad Ali a draft dodger?

Yes, it’s true.

What are we looking for here? That's why he changed his name. One of the dumbest/funniest stories was my Dad pissing next to him at the final 4. Said dude was a vegetable back in 2000, sad stuff.

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thoughts?

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Ali immersed himself in Islam. That part was no sham or stunt. He was neither educated nor particularly bright, but he was religious.

Motivation of some of the characters he became associated with were not so pure. They convinced him, his profession and centuries of Islamic murderous jihad notwithstanding, that Islam was a religion of peace, and that he should not take part in warfare while being true to his faith.

Nonetheless, Ali was certainly aware of the significant social side to his stance.
Vietnam was an ugly episode.
Even more so for black Americans in the early going though.

At the time, blacks made up 11.0% of the young male population nationwide, and similarly made up about 11.0% of our Vietnam force. But once they were drafted, they were skewed heavily into combat units. As a result, black casualties soared to over 20% of total dead/wounded through 1966 -- double the individual white rate.

Black leaders protested, justifiably.

Ali played a significant part in elevating their voice. Concomitant to the government's prosecution of Ali for draft evasion, LBJ ordered black combat participation be more correctly apportioned. By 1969 the black casualty rate was cut to 11.5% and remained roughly proportionate to participation for the rest of the war.

Without Ali, would LBJ have taken that action? Who knows. But tossing Ali in a pot with coward draft dodgers is not fair at all IMO.

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Mohammad Ali a draft dodger?

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Not according to the SCOTUS......9-0

I was living in Pleasure Ridge Park, just off the Waterson Expressway, in Louisville when all this went down and I remember his declaration that he was changing his name from Cassius Clay to Mohammed Ali ... and why.

Yes, he was a draft dodger but he was always a very smart savvy PR and standup guy. He wasn't your typical coward draft dodger.

He was the Barrack Obama of his day really. Drew the same type of praise from the same type of people but, imho, he was never the raging lying hypocrite that Obama is. He wasn't a politician .... he was a Pied Piper.

I met him one time, in Memphis, and as big as I am at 6'3" with big hands and feet .... when I shook his hand his hand engulfed mine and his smile and charm immediately puts you at ease.

I have long considered him a one of a kind human being.

Cassius Clay was a great boxer. An amazing athlete. As amazing as he was, Joe Frazier was the only guy to ever knock him down. What a devestating punch. Mike Tyson would have been impressed. That was the glory days of heavyweight boxing. George Foreman was always (and still is) my favorite.

Heck I don't even know who the current heavyweight champion of world is. Do we even have one? Boxing has been taken over by this Pay-Per-View b/s. Priced the average fan right out of the sport.

Yes

"Champ, what did you think of Africa?" Ali replied, "Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat!"

He didnt "dodge".
He was a man about it.

Trump was a draft dodger.

Ali publicly refused to kill brown people at the behest of white people.

Trump never admitted he was hiding from the action.

His best quote from that time period:
'I pay enough taxes from my fights to pay for a tank.'