Nope. I rope a dope. Like this:
You are an admitted troll. As such, you have violated the rules of this message board. Go back under your bridge.
I’ve admired Ali since I was a kid, so it was unpleasant to learn about the negative things he did.
The racist/separatist comments do indeed have to be taken in context. The separatist impulse was rooted in a sensible conclusion that whites in the Jim Crow south were always going to be too racist to accept blacks to participate fully in society. Black separatists like Marcus Garvey, the NOI, et al, were of the opinion that it was better to fully participate in their own society than be second-class citizens.
Ali scoring 78 on the Army’s IQ tests is more of an indictment of the test than Ali’s intelligence. It may also be an indictment of the spotty education often given to second-class citizens. Ali did a great deal of self-education in his adulthood, to prepare him for his career as a speaker during the years he wasn’t allow to box professionally. Whatever that test measured, it wasn’t innate intelligence.
The fact that Ali renounced his racist/separatist opinions makes them less troubling to me than his treatment of Joe Frazier. An icon of Ali’s stature should have apologized to Frazier, publicly and effusively.
At least Ali’s detractors seem to have dropped the ridiculous assertion that he resisted the draft because he was a coward. As heavyweight champion, Ali would have certainly been given a morale/PR function in the Army, similar to what Joe Louis had. It would have been idiotic to put the heavyweight champ on the front lines. Imagine the morale boost for the Viet Cong if they killed the toughest American. I always loved Harlan Ellison’s response to people who were clinging to the claim that Ali was a coward: “Tell that to George Foreman”.
I’ve always believed in acknowledging ‘the whole truth’ about people who accomplish great things. It may be useful to compare Ali with Charles Lindbergh, another person I’ve always admired. Like Ali, he had unquestionably great achievements as a young adult, which became tainted by ugly events later. (In the runup to WW2, Lindbergh revealed a nasty anti-Semitism, if not a downright fascist streak. Long after his death, it was learned that he had two additional families in Europe which he’d kept secret).
Ali wasn’t perfect. But for all his misdeeds, he showed a willingness to acknowledge them, and progressed in a positive direction over the course of life.
IMHO there is a better explanation for that score, if suddenly the government tells you to fight in what you know it is a very unjust war and you are presented with a test to see where they are going to put you in that war, the most likely result is that you will not take the test seriously at all.
Add to that the fact that many like Ali would be aware that he would likely not not be put in dangerous situations and then even less importance given to the test is likely to follow. Personally, if put in that situation, I would not give a shit for a test under those conditions.
Agreed. From the username alone, it should have been obvious that this guy is seriously divorced from reality. It may be a horrifying spectacle, but I can totally dance.
A fourth strike is being a fucking idiot. A fifth strike is not knowing the difference between your and you’re.
Yay! it is the real Giraffe 
♪
‘Cause I’m The Giraffe, yes I’m the real raff’
All you other Giraffe’s are just imitating
So won’t the real Giraffe please stand up,
Please stand up, please stand up?
♫
Oh, poo - I thought that was a legit story. I hate it when that happens. Mea culpa.
If it only “takes a minute to google”, then fucking do it yourself. If you can’t bother doing that, why should we? How does that make us any lazier than you?
Is this what you did in school when your teacher asked you how you came up with the anwer? “PROVE ME WRONG TEACHER!!! IT ONLY TAKES A FEW MINUTES TO LOOK IT UP!!! DON’T BE SO LAZY!!!”
I don’t know if you’re a racist or a troll, nor do I really give a shit. You are, however, a fucking retard who can’t be bothered to do your own homework and want other people to do it for you.
How come when Hispanics or Native Americans are proud of their heritage it’s admirable, but when Ali expresses pride in his heritage he’s racist?
And for that matter, is not all pride in one’s heritage racist? I mean, it necessarily evinces a belief that everyone else’s heritage is inferior, right? And it demonstrates us vs. them thinking, right?
So let’s not be hearing any more from the left about how members of this race or that race should take pride in their heritage, because also according to the left this makes them racist assholes.
Right?
GCD, why are you so indignant about people supposedly ignoring one decade of Ali’s life when you are most definitely ignoring four? Being a contrarian is fun/useful especially when everyone else is involved in hagiography but you’re doing the same thing you accuse others of doing…
Can you ever not lie?
I have no horse in this race except to say that your cite is a satire news site. Their front page is currently heralding the arrival of Ronnie Wood’s conjoined twins and discussing the texting lane being designated on Miami highways.
And, that’s why you read to the end of the thread before responding. Sorry, this was already pointed out!
Girrafes Can’t dance, around here we’ve observed that ‘prove me wrong’ leaves people a lot of wiggle room to reject evidence they don’t like, so our standard is you must defend your own statements. You don’t have to like it, you don’t have to agree with it, but if you want to be taken seriously around here, you have to deal with it.
And I, for one, am shocked, shocked to discover that Ali was closer to being a perfect athlete that he was a perfect human being!
I think racial separation is a dangerous thinking. Also, “separate but equal” even moreso, because as we have seen by history, its never equal.
[quote=“Broomstick, post:39, topic:756549”]
I’m willing to give Ali credit for that, at the same time, I give more credit to what someone does and says when they are at their prime, not when they are a broken down sympathetic old man.
So says you, so says you.
I think this is the second time I’ve hear the calling Joe Frazier a “gorilla” was just “trash talk” response and its not a great excuse.
Just because they found it there doesn’t mean Clay threw it in the river.
Agreed.
True. The author was pointing out what a lot of people didn’t know because he appeared to be fearless.
One key part of Ali’s legacy is he was brave to stand up to US government and not serve in Vietnam because of his religious and political convictions. If he refused to go just because he was afraid he was going to murdered, kinda shoots a hole in the story. Ill be fair this is one of the accusations the author makes I have a problem with—if Ali is all the way in Vietnam, on an army base, how is the Nation of Islam going to get to him?
That’s fine as long as we agree then to stop using that phrase for any boxer, not just Ali. I’ve noticed over the years its OK to call other boxers punch drunk, but Ali has “Parkinson’s”.
What am I lying about now??? 
How about you just not suck?
I believe I was talking to Arcus, Sweetie. So why don’t you keep your mouth shut and make me some waffles?
Not quite what I was hoping for, but it certainly indicates a change in attitude.
Thanks.