OPINION: We Respect Muhammad Ali's Faith in Theory, But Do We in Practice?
Muhammad Ali recently passed away at the age of 74.
— -- They have been hammering at him and brainwashing him...he’s so confused now that he doesn’t even know where he’s at. They should run those Black Muslims out of the country before they ruin other fine people -- Cassius Clay Sr.
One of the more fascinating aspects of the civil rights movement is the role of religion.
In one corner you had Bayard Rustin, a Quaker, introducing the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist preacher. And in the other corner was the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the son of a Baptist preacher, who became the leader of the Nation of Islam, and shared his teachings with Malcolm X and the man the world now mourns today -- Muhammad Ali, once known as Cassius Clay Jr.
Clay Sr. gave that quote to a newspaper before his son defeated Sonny Liston and became heavyweight champion.
Generally speaking, we never have a problem talking about Christianity’s influence on the civil rights era. Many love the documentaries of preachers preaching and marchers singing songs of the Gospel.
But we whisper about the other faiths that helped shape strategy or drove an entirely different, philosophical, approach as if mentioning “Islam” or “Hinduism” in a public space would condemn the speaker to hell. The redacted narrative strongly suggests it was only white people who were afraid of Ali’s affiliation with the NOI but the reality is many blacks were also unnerved. Any religion outside of Judeo-Christianity has a way of doing that to people in this country. The only thing worse is to be without religion.
The tendency to edit is understandable.
If one faith teaches its followers that Jesus is the only way to heaven and the other says the only true God is Allah, there is likely going to be conflict. And if one branch of the civil rights movement encourages non-violence and the other speaks of an eye-for-an-eye, those conflicts are going to be magnified in the public eye. Sides will be chosen. There will be heroes and villains. Yet we must remember time can only heal wounds, it cannot rewrite the past -- no matter how hushed the tones in which the past is mentioned.
So to fully appreciate what Ali’s life means we must be honest about the time in which he lived. Like women’s suffrage and LGBT equality, the civil rights movement was not monolithic and Ali epitomized this complexity. Let us not become so enamored with his inspirational quotes that we ignore the environment that gave birth to them. Just as everyone didn’t march with King, everyone wasn’t this respectful of Islam -- be it the NOI or the Sunni branch, which is what Malcolm X migrated to before he was assassinated.
Ali’s verbal attacks against his black opponents were not solely based on promoting the sport or predicting the result of a pending match. They were also religious and emphasized geopolitical differences between himself and the other man in the ring.
He called Joe Frazier the “white people’s champion," he repeatedly called Ernie Terrell an “Uncle Tom” to his face during a press conference. For Ali, the “Rumble in the Jungle” was as much about defeating George Foreman’s politics (he proudly waved the American flag at the 1968 Olympics, and like O.J. Simpson, was embraced by many whites as “safe”) as it was reclaiming his title.
Jackie Robinson publicly denounced Ali for not fighting in the Vietnam War.
Before his fight with Ali, Floyd Patterson spoke out against Ali's religion in Sports Illustrated.
“I have the right to call the Black Muslims a menace to the United States and a menace to the Negro race. I have a right to say the Black Muslims stink. I am a Roman Catholic. I do not believe God put us here to hate one another," he said. "I believe the Muslim preaching of segregation, hatred, rebellion and violence is wrong. Cassius Clay is disgracing himself and the Negro race. No decent person can look up to a champion whose credo is 'hate whites.'"
Just as Malcolm X publicly challenged the path and religion of Dr. King, so did his one-time mentee Ali.
Ali's willingness to sacrifice it all in the face of racism was something most blacks in this country embraced. But his religion -- and the politics of his religion -- made him somewhat of a double-edged sword.
Even in the recent coverage of Ali’s life, there is little mention of Elijah Muhammad or Malcolm X, the men who not only gave him his name but set him on the path that we claim to respect.
Well if we respect the student, should we not recognize his teachers, no matter how uncomfortable it may be to do so -- for the religious prejudices that prompted Ali to initially sneak around and hide his faith are still very much woven in the fabric of society today.
From political opponents referring to President Obama as a Muslim as a form of attack to a proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, it would seem in some ways the lesson of Ali’s life still escapes us. Perhaps it is because we are prone to edit out the parts of it we don’t like.
LZ Granderson is an ABC News contributor. The opinions expressed in this article are his own and do not reflect those of ABC News.
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