Rights activists and anti-war protesters immediately come
to mind. One commonly thinks of Martin Luther King, Jr. or the Black Panthers, for example. At the same time,
provocative photographs of burning draft cards and violent confrontations with the police also form a large part
of America’s historical memory. The case of Muhammad Ali and conscription reflects these wider issues of war
and peace and racial justice, but from a different angle that allows you to use your larger historical imagination
to better understand the tensions underlying American society in that contentious decade.
Let us go back to the late 1960s, when the federal government felt obligated to prosecute a celebrity draft
evader, the Nation of Islam passionately advocated for their most prized recruit, Stokely Carmichael defended
a man he called “hero,” who through his refusal to serve dramatically raised the profile of the growing anti-war
movement (especially for Black Americans), patriotic American Legion members urged boycotts of Ali prize
fights, traditional white establishment sportswriters heaped scorn upon the young heavyweight champ, and Ali,
took a courageous and costly principled stand against a war that he could not in good conscience join.
Drawing on all the sources below, explain the issues surrounding Muhammad Ali’s greatest fight, his refusal to
be drafted for combat during the Vietnam War. Having read chapter 25 of Foner’s Give Me Liberty, which
provides a foundation for understanding social protest and antiwar sentiment during the 1960s, read the
following articles from the Washington Post (Links to an external site.) and New Yorker (Links to an external
site.) for more background about Muhammad Ali and the draft. Then consider the following sources—videos,
primary documents, and newspaper and magazine articles—as you work through the assignment.
The sources below are arranged around five personas, two of which are fictional composites, that represent
five different constituencies/perspectives about the controversy. While they are hardly conclusive, they should
provide plenty of context for you to construct a historical argument about the incident and its larger social and
political meaning. With all that in mind, here is your prompt:
Drawing on all the sources below, explain the issues surrounding Muhammad Ali’s “greatest fight,” his refusal
to be drafted for combat during the Vietnam War. Consider the historical context and the various perspectives
of the five personas. Why was his decision met with such hostility? How did the controversy both reflect and
shape larger social struggles, both in the civil rights and antiwar movements, as well as beyond? What does
Ali’s struggle tell us about American society in the 1960s? In short, why is Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali so
important?