
Contribution to Book
“No Quarrel with Them Vietcong”: Muhammad Ali’s Cold War
The Whole World Was Watching: Sport in the Cold War
(2019)
Abstract
When Cassius Clay became heavyweight boxing champion in 1964, no one expected him to take political stands. Yet he joined the controversial Nation of Islam and, within a few years, refused to be drafted into the US Army, for which he was convicted in federal court. Ali’s opposition to the Vietnam War grew out of his acute awareness of American racism and his support for decolonization movements overseas. He was stripped of his title and barred from the prize ring for four years, until the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction.
Keywords
- Muhammad Ali,
- boxing,
- Vietnam War,
- civil rights,
- Nation of Islam
Disciplines
Publication Date
December, 2019
Editor
Robert Edelman and Christopher Young
Publisher
Stanford University Press
ISBN
9781503610187
DOI
10.11126/stanford/9781503610187.003.0003
Citation Information
Elliot Gorn. "“No Quarrel with Them Vietcong”: Muhammad Ali’s Cold War" StanfordThe Whole World Was Watching: Sport in the Cold War (2019) p. 42 - 56 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/elliot-gorn/7/