Why Is Muhammad Ali Important

The Historical Significance and Remembrance of Muhammad Ali through Visual Imagery

We are a nation that is largely controlled and persuaded by the actions of the most prominent athletes of our generations. In the 1940’s, Jackie Robinson broke into Major League Baseball as the first African American player and helped pave the way for future generations of minority athletes in all professional sports (Deford and Smith 52). Throughout the 1950’s, Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics began to dominate the National Basketball Association and demand that more African American players be allowed to play in the league (Anderson 99). Most recently, Danica Patrick who has rewritten our definition of traditional “men” and “women” in sports by becoming

the most successful woman in the history of American racing (Kantrowitz 50). Perhaps the most recognized historical sports figure throughout our country’s entire history is Muhammad Ali. His impact and influence on the civil rights movement during the 1960’s and 1970’s, protests against the Vietnam War, and support of Islam have largely been forgotten by the generations of people that have followed his accomplishments. By looking at visual imagery of Muhammad Ali, we can see the historical impacts he had on the 1960’s and 70’s, which most readers don’t see because they only consider his athletic achievements; this is important to remember the influences and advancements he had on society as a whole. An exploration of Ali’s legendary achievements, his support of African American Civil Rights, and objection of the Vietnam War is necessary because we would not live in an integrated world if it had not been for Muhammad Ali.
It is necessary to have a full understanding of the historical impact Muhammad Ali had on race, religion, and the Vietnam War; but first, his boxing accomplishments must be fully understood. Ali fought professionally starting in 1960 and finishing in 1981. He fought in sixty-one matches, winning fifty-six and losing only five (Schwartz). He knocked out his opponent thirty-seven times and won by unanimous decision nineteen times. His first professional fight was in 1960 and he was undefeated for over a decade until he was first beaten in 1971 by Joe Frazier in New York City (Schwartz). In the twenty-one years Ali fought professionally he was only knocked out once which was inevitably his second to last fight of his career (Schwartz). In 1960, Ali was an Olympic gold medalist in the light heavyweight division (Schwartz). He held the title of heavyweight champion of the world from 1964-1967, 1974-1978, and 1978-1979 (Schwartz). We have not seen a more decorated prize fighter over the last century. Ali fought in historic fights including, the “Rumble in the Jungle,” Ali vs. Liston in 1964, and the “Thrilla in Manila.” All three of these fights allowed him to recapture or defend his title as heavyweight champion of the world. The athletic achievements of Muhammad Ali helped set the stage and develop a platform for becoming a leader in the civil rights movement, protesting the draft board in 1967, and the support of the Nation of Islam as he converted in 1964 (Oriard). All of these historical battles helped ascend Ali into hero status, but he needed more than just the athletic gifts and smooth talking, he needed to be everything everyone wanted to be.
What is a hero?

According to author Michael Oriard, “Heroism is something more than celebrity, the hero as someone who embodies qualities we admire and wish to emulate, who ultimately represents his people in their highest aspiration (20).” It involves having the ability to connect with all levels of people while fighting for an underlying purpose. This was the core of Muhammad Ali and the principles he stood for throughout his career as a boxer. The term hero is used today to describe celebrities, sports figures, or even political leaders. Generations are suffocated and largely influenced by the heroes of their time, but rarely do we see impacts of heroes affect multiple generations of people. In the 1990’s the sporting world was captured by Mark McGuire and his historical race to become Major League baseball’s single season homerun king. Michael Jordan become the first modern day mass media sports hero by winning six National Basketball Association championships from 1991-1998 (Ventures). Jordan’s success on the court led to an international fame that was spread due to the rise in mass media around the world. In Oriard’s article about Jordan and Ali he mentions that, “He (Jordan) embodies the dazzling grace, beauty, creativity, and competitiveness that feed the fantasies of children and inspire awe in adults (Oriard 13).” However, it must be clear that to become a hero of multiple generations and gain support amongst all races, genders, social classes, and religions it requires more than just the impressive grace of performing on an athletic field. Mark Kram wrote an article for Sports Illustrated in 1975 that can summarize Ali’s influences: “His followers cut across all class lines. There are the moneyed, who must always be near success. There is the white middle class, that huge engine of society that once so rejected him but now jockeys for position with the miniature cameras and ballpoint pens (26).” The drama and tragedy of Ali’s career allowed him to

connect with a larger audience and a resonance that new age mass media cannot capture. What makes Muhammad Ali a true hero is not that he stood out for specific groups of people, but that he was well respected amongst all classes of society. As Oriard put it, “Muhammad Ali came to be a true multicultural text (Oriard).” A hero is much more than an athlete that performs well on the athletic field. They are someone who embodies what an entire group of people should strive to be and in the face of adversity they stand true to their beliefs and values.
Before Muhammad Ali arrived as an influential civil rights leader, the landscape for African American athletes was limited. During the 1930’s and 1940’s black athletes were largely nonexistent in professional and collegiate sports. It wasn’t until 1936, when Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Olympics and Joe Louis’s reign as the heavyweight champion of the world did we finally have the prominence of the black athlete in sports. Regardless of their inclusion in athletics, African American athletes were still expected to follow certain rules to represent their race positively according to the white supremacists (Harris 55). In Othello Harris’s article published in Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champ in 1995, before the introduction of Muhammad Ali into professional boxing, “The black athlete of this era was expected to be humble, obsequious, nonthreatening, and tolerant of demeaning stereotypes and characterizations (Harris 60).” Black athletes who did not follow the guidelines expected of them by whites were often chastised and degraded for their actions. For example:
Elvin Hayes, star basketball player at the University of Houston, turned down an opportunity to play for the Houston Mavericks (ABA), electing instead to play for the San Diego Rockets (NBA), he was considered to be an “uppity nigger” by University of Houston Fans (Harris 61).
In an article written by Sports Illustrated in 1968, Jack Olsen describes his encounter with a taxi driver when asked about the actions of Elvin Hayes. He is quoted as saying, “I used to think he knew his place, but now he is acting like one of your smart-ass Northern jigs (Olsen 30).” Black athletes were simply not given the same advantages as white athletes. Harry Edwards writes, “At the end of their athletic career, black athletes do not become congressman…neither does the black athlete cash in on thousands of dollars to be had from endorsements, either during his professional career or after he retires (Edwards 204).” The expectations for African American athletes were clear and it was setting the stage for a monumental figure to ignore the standards and defend his own beliefs.
This new age character supporting African American rights in the United States needed to be strong and willing to risk all of his athletic success for the greater benefit of future generations. A combination of three factors allowed Muhammad Ali to become the idol necessary to make progressive change for not only black athletes but the African American community as a whole. He was visible to all people across the entire world, he was outspoken for what he believed in, and he exhibited black pride in all circumstances (Harris 58). Oriard discusses Ali’s visibility and his ability to be outspoken regardless of the amount of risk involved:
When Cassius Clay first declared, ‘I am the greatest!’ this was an original and radical act.” Oriard continues, ‘It defied the spirit of gray flannel suits and social accommodation; it shattered the mask of humble silence and nonassertion demanded of blacks in America, particularly of blacks in the South’ (Oriard 9).
This sense of confidence Ali displayed was truly the beginning of historical changes across multiple political and social issues. The ability to stand in the face of adversity for all that he assumed to be right and just, allowed him to become the hero of the civil rights movement and make new changes to the way black athletes were treated at the collegiate and professional level.