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Muhammad Ali's Major Argument

Muhammad Ali's major argument in this interview is his emphasis on the racism in America that has occurred in previous history, his experiences with racism, and how those experiences have shaped his perspective on race and his personal beliefs. Race/Racism was a very touchy and often difficult subject to talk about back then and even in today's America, it's still pretty difficult to try and bring up in conversation. However, in this interview, Ali managed to address the subject by giving his perspective on the subject and sharing personal anecdotes. Ali shares an experience where he was rejected of service in a downtown restaurant because he was black; despite the fact that he had "fought for this country" and won an Olympic gold medal. Of course, Ali felt extremely disrespected by their lack of respect for him which he claims aided in his conversion to Islam. Ali also states that no woman- whether they are black, white, from a different country, etc.- can relate to him more than a black, American woman. This is understandable due to differences in racial and societal views that certain countries may have. These experiences most likely shaped Ali's perspective on race and why he feels that "it's nature to want to be with your own".
Cassius Clay, later to become known as Muhammad Ali, rose to prominence at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where he claimed a boxing gold medal in the light heavyweight division.














By Pelumi Olufuwa

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 11, 2017 at 8:09 PM

    Ali's experiences and stories definitely add an emotional connection to his argument. Without it, his argument would be much weaker and by saying that no one can relate to him more than a black, American woman which demonstrates how they can relate to each other since they have both been discriminated against.

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  2. Poornima KrishnamoorthiOctober 12, 2017 at 2:33 PM

    His comments make sense but I was wondering if you could add more on how this aided on his conversion to Islam. Was his conversion to Islam based around the strong emphasis on peace in the religion? I also found it interesting that he compared his struggles to those of African-American women. Even though they are of the same race I feel like there are many different struggles between the two.

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