Muhammad Ali, is he really as great.....

[civilwarbuff]

For the past week the press has lionized Ali as a great, wonderful, compassionate individual. Is that really true or is there another less tolerant and humanitarian side to him? We all know he was a great boxer but was his human side much less than than the media are proclaiming or is that an accurate portrayal. And please make sure you have some evidence to support your statements.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/us/muhammad-ali-american-muslim/
http://mashable.com/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-charity-legacy/#YPkyCQ6j7Sqk

 

[Blondepudding]

You're invited to insult the legacy of a dead man. Post here! Show proof!
In Jesus name?

 

[GoldenBoy89]

"The Greatest" was a self-appointed title and referred only to boxing. I don't think he thought of himself as the greatest human that ever lived.

But if you think he wasn't such a great person, I'd love to hear your reasons why.

 

[civilwarbuff]

If you think what the press is putting out there is true.... great.... post it.... I really don't have a take on him one way or another. It is just all I have heard on the major news network is he was a humanitarian and compassionate individual. Through other (less reliable media) I have heard contrarian POV. I am curious as to which POV is more correct.

 

[civilwarbuff]

"The Greatest" was a self-appointed title and referred only to boxing. I don't think he thought of himself as the greatest human that ever lived.

But if you think he wasn't such a great person, I'd love to hear your reasons why.

The "Greatest" was from him...great marketing for him.

 

[nightflight]

Like most things in life, its not either/or. Ali did some great things and said some (now) unacceptable things.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Like most things in life, its not either/or. Ali did some great things and said some (now) unacceptable things.

Such as?

 

[Larniavc]

Why are you having a go at a dead man?

 

[civilwarbuff]

Did you even bother to read the above?....sigh......

 

[nightflight]

Such as?

His views on mixed-race marriages is now socially unacceptable. He was formerly a part of the Nation of Islam which is anti-Semitic, but a few years ago he attended his grandson's Bar Mitzvah.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Did not know his grandson is Jewish. I knew he was NOI; just reading up on the NOI since I really did not know much about them.....some really strange beliefs....such as this:
CosmologyEdit

Elijah Muhammad once said that the Moon was once a part of the Earth, and that the Earth is over 76 trillion years old.[30] The entire land mass on the Earth was called "Asia". This was, Elijah Muhammad claimed, long before Adam.[31] Elijah Muhammad declared that Black People in America are descendants of the Asian black nation and of the tribe of Shabazz. He writes on page 31 in his monumental book, "Message to the Black Man in America", "...who is this tribe of Shabazz? Originally, they were the tribe who came with the earth (or this part) 66 trillion years ago when a great explosion on our planet divided it into two parts. One we call earth and the other moon. This was done by one of our scientists, God, who wanted the people to speak one language, one dialect for all, but was unable to bring this about."[32].....wiki

 

[MennoSota]

Many despised him for his refusal to join the armed forces and his mistreatment of Joe Frazier. As a boxer, he was an arrogant man who then was humbled by Parkinson disease.
I always rooted against him and cheered for Frazier, Forman and all other opponents.
I pity him more than admire him. His life after boxing is rather sad.

 

[topcare]

For the past week the press has lionized Ali as a great, wonderful, compassionate individual. Is that really true or is there another less tolerant and humanitarian side to him? We all know he was a great boxer but was his human side much less than than the media are proclaiming or is that an accurate portrayal. And please make sure you have some evidence to support your statements.

Humans idolize those who are famous and forget aspects that may not be great.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Humans idolize those who are famous and forget aspects that may not be great.

Pretty much this...

He was a good boxer for his time (whether or not he'd be able to hang in modern day boxing is another story...much like in other sports, athletes get better over time), however, aside from his boxing legacy, I don't know that he would've been revered for his non-boxing exploits.

As other's have mentioned, he was a member of NOI and opposed to "mixed-race" marriages.

(disregard the title of this video, clearly it's inappropriate, but I couldn't find another video of this particular interview)


The US, as a whole, has a real problem with sports obsession...we turn a blind eye to the shortcomings of athlete's because they can catch a ball or run fast. Look at the number of pro athletes who've gotten slaps on the wrist for things that any of us would be in jail for...

 

[civilwarbuff]

You make some good points, especially in regards to atheletes in general.....

 

[seashale76]

I met him when I was a kid. He was nice. I'm still not pleased that he was allowed to proselytize for Islam to me in a public school though (and I had his autograph on an Islamic tract). I also met his daughter. She was nice too.

So, he was a nice man when he met strangers. He really was. He was a role model to many and inspired people. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, so I guess I'll leave it at that.

Traffic was horrible in town today (I live in Louisville)- and the response of the world was disproportionate (and that Erdogan came for his funeral when he has yet to acknowledge genocide and continues to be for the continual persecution of Christians in his own country has upset me greatly). God have mercy on him.

ETA- found out Erdogan didn't come at the last minute. I'm glad about that.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I met him when I was a kid. He was nice. I'm still not pleased that he was allowed to proselytize for Islam to me in a public school though (and I have his autograph on an Islamic tract). I also met his daughter. She was nice too.

So, he was a nice man when he met strangers. He really was. He was a role model to many and inspired people. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, so I guess I'll leave it at that.

Traffic was horrible in town today (I live in Louisville)- and the response of the world was disproportionate (and that Erdogan came for his funeral when he has yet to acknowledge genocide and continues to be for the continual persecution of Christians in his own country has upset me greatly). God have mercy on him.

I really never met a religious person not proselytize their religion. Christians do this all the time. They even try this in school.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

For the past week the press has lionized Ali as a great, wonderful, compassionate individual. Is that really true or is there another less tolerant and humanitarian side to him? We all know he was a great boxer but was his human side much less than than the media are proclaiming or is that an accurate portrayal. And please make sure you have some evidence to support your statements.

He was famous, had some good points about him. Just like most people. The medias all about ratings and getting people to watch their show. I don't really morn anyone's death. I read in the bible, the dead morn dead people. So that's all I think about, when I read these things about celebs dying .

 

[seashale76]

I really never met a religious person not proselytize their religion. Christians do this all the time. They even try this in school.

Students are allowed to talk about religion at will in schools. Adults are NOT allowed to proselytize in public schools. Ali was an adult that was allowed to do so in a public school back when I was a student myself. It was not an optional assembly I could choose to attend or not attend. He spoke at length about his Islamic faith, I was given religious literature, a tract for Islam designed to get me to become a Muslim, but it was somehow ignored by those that should have known better because he was famous and put his autograph on it. Don't try to tell me that this type of thing is allowed in public schools usually. I know they're not- and you know it too. I was a public school teacher for too many years, I even taught about world religions, and I know how it is supposed to go and what isn't allowed.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Students are allowed to talk about religion at will in schools. Adults are NOT allowed to proselytize in public schools. Ali was an adult that was allowed to do so in a public school back when I was a student myself. It was not an optional assembly I could choose to attend or not attend. He spoke at length about his Islamic faith, I was given religious literature, a tract for Islam designed to get me to become a Muslim, but it was somehow ignored by those that should have known better because he was famous and put his autograph on it. Don't try to tell me that this type of thing is allowed in public schools usually. I know they're not- and you know it too. I was a public school teacher for too many years, I even taught about world religions, and I know how it is supposed to go and what isn't allowed.

sounds like one of those "he is famous so I will look the other way" type of deals