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Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Evading War: Miguel Radilla
Muhammad
Ali evaded The Vietnam Draft by claiming that he didn’t have any quarrel with
the Vietcong, and his justifiable reason was why would he put on a uniform and
go ten thousand miles from home to drop bombs and bullets while us Negros are
treated like dogs and denied simple human rights here at home? As Ali puts it,
he wasn’t going to take part in murdering and burning another poor nation
simply to continue the domination of the slave masters who were the white
people. He knows that by evading the draft, he is sacrificing millions of
dollars and being stripped from being world champion. He says the real enemies
are the people here in America and says he will not be a tool to enslave those
who are fighting for their own justice, freedom, and equality. He mentions if
this war was to bring freedom and equality for the 22 million African
Americans, he wouldn’t hesitate to join for a cause like that, but another
reason as for why Ali evaded the draft was due to his religious beliefs and
stated he would either abide to laws of the land or the laws of Allah, and he
didn’t have anything to lose for standing in what he believed in. He would of
rather gone to jail, saying that African Americans have already been in jail
for four hundred years due the oppression of Blacks. The importance of this is
why would he help liberate a nation when his own nation oppresses him. This
type of thinking by individuals who felt oppressed I feel in sense catapulted
the anti-war sentiment in US as well as The Civil Rights Movement as well.
http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/muhammad-ali-refuses-to-fight-1967/
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When people look back on this incident involving Muhammad Ali and the draft few people view him as the good guy or having done the right thing. However when you carefully and fully examine the facts, I consider him to be a very brave and selfless person having done what he did. To forgo all the fame of boxing and even have his title stripped from him just to show to people what the right thing was.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Muhammad Ali was saying very similar things to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" speech; they were both talking about how Black people shouldn't fight for freedom and civil rights for another country if America doesn't have any of these for Black people. Also, does anybody know which event came first, Muhammad Ali evading the draft, or Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" speech?
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with what Muhammed Ali did. Why should he have to fight for freedom when he was hardly free in the first place? I think these people obviously should have been granted their freedom to begin with, but especially if they are going to be required to enter the war. I am surprised more black citizens didn't stick up for themselves and do what Ali did. They were treated completely unfairly.
ReplyDeleteI have never considered how African Americans may have felt during the time of the Vietnam war. Often times I neglect to remember that our country was so unfair to people of color. I agree with Ali. I wish that all African Americans would have had the courage to stand up for their lives and their freedom, or lack there of. I know that is very unrealistic, but I think that it would have made a bold statement that was necessary then and still is needed now.
ReplyDeleteI happen to agree with Ali as well. Its very unfortunate to see how our country had treated people who they didn't consider to be in the social "norm" at the time. I myself would not fight for a country where I wasn't being treated equal, he had a very strong argument in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with his decision here, and I'm really happy to see that the courts ruled in his favor, because it would be really unjust if they didn't.
ReplyDelete