After almost an entire century, when Muhannad Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay to this, he was not applauded for his courage or his love for his country at the time. He openly protested conscription in the Vietnam War and felt he was not prepared to kill Vietnamese or even fight for a country that rarely acknowledged the existence of its culture. He felt that African Americans in the United States were “barely valued.” » and he didn't see the point in fighting for the country if they didn't even fight for him, let alone value him. He said, and I quote, "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home to drop bombs and bullets on the colored people in Vietnam while the so-called blacks of Louisville are treated like dogs? If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to twenty-two million of my fellow citizens, they wouldn't need to enlist me. I will join tomorrow. But I must either obey the laws of the land or the laws of Allah. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. We have been in prison for four hundred years. » Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Many years later he was in Houston, Texas, and he was standing in line with many other very terrified men, who had also been asked to be drafted, and he was refusing to answer the people who called him Cassius Clay. At this point, his boxing titles began to be taken away from him and his boxing license was suspended in the city where he lived. At that time he did not know what other options he had for his life, he was only 25 years old when it happened on April 28, 1967. Ali was very rarely praised in his time. He was often excluded by sports reporters and editors. A Sports Illustrated writer even went so far as to call him a demagogue and an "apologist" for his "so-called religion and his views on Vietnam aren't even worth refuting." This same writer David Susskind went on to say that Ali was a disgrace to our country and that Muhammad was a fool and a “pawn.” Many people thought he was selfish, that he was making money from the American public watching his fights, but that he couldn't fight for this same country? But if you think about it, Ali was a perfect person to look up to back then. He was never violent in his protests. He never shouted at them from the rooftops. He said what he felt and was demonized for it. He just wanted people to see him as something other than a cash cow and another black man's body that would later be killed in that same war that many of his friends died in, in the future. At one point in Cleveland, Ohio, other black athletes and activists gathered at the Supreme Court to show support for Ali when he refused the draft. It came to be called the Cleveland Summit, it took place on June 4, 1967. Jim Brown chaired the meeting between the other athletes and they all protested by remaining calm and fighting for what they believed was the right thing to do was: not recruit Ali. After Ali changed his name and converted to the Nation of Islam, you could even say that he was hated by black Americans almost as much as white Americans, so for all those wonderful African American athletes coming together to fight him was a world-changing feat. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our writers.