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Muhammad Ali's Pathos

Ali fills his interview with Michael Parkinson in 1971 with repeated appeals to pathos, more commonly understood as the appeal to emotion. Ali shares his perspective as an African American boxer during a time when racism ran rampant, along with being a celebrity that opposed war due to his religious observance. Primarily, Ali surveys the racist backlash he faced as a young, African American and unproven boxer that spoke on social change.  Ali relays the common sentiments he received from Americans, disgustedly stating their phrases “the n****r talks too much”. Additionally, Ali spoke out against the Vietnam War, refusing to be drafted into the military because it conflicted with his devout following of Islam. Nationwide, people across the nation that lived religiously-devoted lives would sympathize with Ali’s anti-war sentiments as a part  his religion.  Ali sharing his religious reasoning for his anti-war stance, states that Islam does not “take the lives of humans unless it’s a holy war declared by God himself”.

By Brennan Maher

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 8, 2017 at 8:48 PM

    The interview between Parkinson and Ali was very surprising considering that most non-whites have been fighting for equality and integration. Meanwhile, Ali on the other hand, says that he "likes his people" and that no women "is worth going through that hell." This makes it sound like he believes that equality isn't worth it because of the amount of hardship he would have to go through. Also, at the end of the commercial where they kept repeating "anti-racist means anti-white," I was very confused what was going on.

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  2. Poornima KrishnamoorthiOctober 9, 2017 at 8:25 AM

    I feel that Muhammad Ali's juxtaposition in his struggles before his fame and after his fame emphasize the reality of racism. These hateful words that he was called before his fame did not suddenly stop as he succeeded. This shows that no matter in what position a person is in, the hate doesn't see past that.

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