Ali's Impact

[Obama]

To the best of my knowledge he was banned from going by Elijah Muhammad

All members of the Nation of Islam had that excuse, but not all of them had the luxury of using it. And Ali never once claimed he actually wanted to partake, but was forbidden to do so. He never actually wanted to enlist.

[Toney616]

All members of the Nation of Islam had that excuse, but not all of them had the luxury of using it. And Ali never once claimed he actually wanted to partake, but was forbidden to do so. He never actually wanted to enlist.

. . . in his autobiography, Sugar Ray Robinson tells the story of visiting a scared Ali in New York in 1967. When Robinson insisted that he had to go to Vietnam, Ali answered, ‘No. [Nation of Islam leader] Elijah Muhammad told me that I can’t go.’ Despite Robinson’s insistence, Ali tearfully explained that he was afraid. When asked if he was afraid of the Nation of Islam, he refused to answer. Robinson said Ali’s eyes were full of ‘tears of torment, tears of indecision.’

But Ali did have a tough act to follow. As Tallent points out, Elijah Muhammad refused induction into the military himself during WWII. In fact, he preached Japanese superiority and believed and hoped Imperial Japan would “slaughter the white man” in the conflict.

http://rationalargumentator.com/issue89/alimyth.html

[Obama]

Well looks like he was afraid of what the White man he vilified might do to him if he joined the armed forces.

Also an aging Robinson was kinda losing it mentally. Can't really trust what he says.

[Toney616]

Well looks like he was afraid of what the White man he vilified might do to him if he joined the armed forces.

That is a good point as well, which a reporter also touched on as well. If he believed in the whole blue eye devil thing, then the last place he would want to be, is in a place where he is surrounded with armed devils.

Also an aging Robinson was kinda losing it mentally. Can't really trust what he says.

Possible, but Mark Kram also touched on a similar point in his book about Ali and Frazier