As I wrote last week about Memorial Day I was mostly thinking about my Dad and his generation and the many that followed the American flag into battle. I also had in mind a certain warrior that gave his life for others. This is a story about another kind of hero. A hero for many and possibly the author of many a young man who decided not to fight.
As most of you know by now, Muhammed Ali passed away this past week. There possibly wasn't another sports personality who was as polarizing as he was. He was known as much for his boxing prowess as for his mouth. I can remember watching him on TV letting fighters pound on his arms with his "rope a dope" style, coming out with those hands so fast and landing punches everywhere, before going back into the ropes. He would taunt others into losing their plan the whole while dancing around the ring. He was as much showman as fighter. Amazing to watch.
Like all young American men, Ali registered for the draft on his 18th birthday in 1962, and was listed 1-A. After testing he was reclassified 1-Y, fit for service only in times of national emergency. In 1966 it seems like there was an emergency because the Army lowered its standards and he was once again classified 1-A again. The emergency was the Vietnam Conflict that had escalated from its US military advisory position to troop levels tripling in '61 and '62, and really taking off in '64. A large counterculture developed here in the US with college campuses and large towns becoming places for marches and riots. Conscientious objector became a mainstream phrase.
In 1964, the former Cassius Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammed Ali as we know it now. In '66 he refused to be conscripted into the US military citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in what was a full blown Vietnam War. Arrested, found guilty of draft evasion, and stripped of his boxing titles, he appealed to the Supreme Court who overturned his conviction in '71. After the 4 year layoff from fighting he spent the next 7 regaining the titles he had been stripped of. He had spent those years becoming a popular speaker at college campuses on behalf of civil rights and against the war. It is said that he inspired Martin Luther King to speak out in opposition also.
What makes a hero? Is someone who inspires you to become more than you are or were? It can be someone who transcends surrounding actions or as simple as taking another path. There are no quantifiers. Heroes are generally portrayed as those who follow the leanings of the country involved but that can't be the only determinant because we don't always think alike. I'm not here to judge any man and I loved to watch Ali fight. People will make up or have made up their minds about his actions by how they view history, not just our history. Right or wrong, in our eyes, after death, God is the divider and judge. Right or wrong, Muhammed Ali was a hero. Until next week. ags
