Muhammad Ali was a racist & That's A-OK!

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I wonder what he woulda said about him? I wonder if trump woulda figured out a way to get him on his side?

Ali wasn't a dummy; there's no way Trump could have gotten him on his side.

Ali was an ardent Muslim.

yes, he was nobody's fool. but stranger things have happened, such as elvis' and ali's friendship.

The whole thing is: Ali wasn't really a racist. He didn't mind white people individually; he only minded the history of white oppression.

I'm not surprised he was friends with Elvis.

One of his best friends was his manager, Angelo Dundee, a white man.

elvis, after all, was a typical southern white male, and he was by various accounts a racist. there is at least one episode where he caused a riot at a concert because he shoved a black girl when she got too close to him on stage. so for him to pal up with ali [and vice-versa] was indeed unusual.

Elvis was a gigantic star, probably more so than Ali at the time.

Ali was color-blind when it came to befriending stars, I believe.

and it would appear at least in this case that elvis might've been a bit color-blind to certain star athletes, as well.

He was a human being, with flaws just like any other. He was a great man in a lot of ways, but this doesn't make him perfect.

Very eloquently put.

All in all, there was a REASON why Ali was beloved from the late 60's on. And he was beloved by many, despite some of his beliefs.

I believe, one of the reasons, was that he was just a big kid at heart.

I believe he was divinely protected, starting by having not been killed back in Louisville.

Ali's racist views were somewhat shocking, but not entirely surprising to me considering the social climate at the time which he made those statements. I'm not saying it's right, but it's not surprising.

well, in terms of transcending racism, both he and X managed to do just that, in their own way. thankfully at least one of them avoided getting killed off by their own.

I don't think Malcolm X was too thrilled with white people, even after he converted to mainstream Islam.

I think Muhammad Ali just liked people.

Malcolm X had an epiphany in mecca, when he discovered muslim folk of all colors. "In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people. I will never be guilty of that again — as I know now that some white people are truly sincere, that some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black man. The true Islam has shown me that a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites make blanket indictments against blacks." As quoted in Malcolm X: The Seeker of Justice (2003); also quoted at "Malcolm X - An Islamic Perspective"

I think, in his heart of hearts, Muhammad Ali didn't have to come to the same revelation as Malcolm X--didn't have to make the same journey. It came naturally to Ali, I believe.

This doesn't, in any way, minimize the explorations of Malcolm X.

You are all missing the point - why was Hulk Hogan treated differently when he verbalized the same views as Ali except towards white people?