June 20, 2016
Ali died 3 days before my hip replacement surgery — so I am only getting to acknowledge this amazing human being as my thoughts become more clear with dissipating pain meds. Besides, \”La Cucaracha\” just paid respects today (6/20).
And with regards to the accolades given this larger-than-life Man, all I can do is resonate with them — and hopefully echo them till my last daze on this Earth. If ever there was a universal hero, it was Ali! Even little suburban White Boyz, who knew very little of the battle for civil rights or what the Nation of Islam was all about (like me) — idolized the greatest boxer on-the-planet.
I was confused when Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali, but that didn\’t stop me from my aforementioned idolatry: for somewhere within those two names lived the heart of an indomitable fighting spirit; and this is what conscripted me (and millions of others) to the Ali camp.
In fact, when John Lennon declared The Beatles more popular than Jesus, the Fab Four lost many American Christian fans. For a brief time they were a national outrage. I don\’t remember similar animosity towards Ali from the general public when he refused to go to Nam (electing, instead, to be a conscientious objector). Everyone I knew just wanted him back in the ring — thrilling US.
And this segues into the second part of this attempt: wherein I attempt to deal with those folks (vets and probable chicken hawks) who deprecate(d) Ali for not going to Nam.
I was irritated when a Times\’ contributor suggested that some other American soldier took Ali\’s place in Nam. I was even more irritated that a regular contributor to my beloved Times supported the initial contributor\’s contention.
Because I have been reading this regular contributor\’s letters for the past 31 years, and, have tended to agree with him on just about everything, I was stunned that he felt Ali did US a disservice by not going to Nam. I am not going to \”out\” this gentleman because he reports being a two-term Viet Nam vet (and I never wish to disrespect any vet for his/her service to US — even though Nam vets still probably comprise a significant number of US homeless) — suffice to say, this Times letter writer has a very \”famous\” sounding name.
As-a-matter-of-fact, I have recently decided to never argue or get in a debate with a vet — as s/he has earned sufferance from me for putting her/his life on-the-line for US (no matter how dubious the circumstances): \”Theirs was not to reason why.\”
But as Ali pointed out, Viet Nam was a bullshit war (as if all wars aren\’t for shit!) and the Vietnamese were not his enemy: his enemies were right here: US!
So I\’m not sure how any American, then and now, gets to tell a hero that they are not a hero because they are un-American. Why should a faceless authority get to tell you that you should die for them? Should we believe that two-term vets enjoy killing more than the average person? Should the chicken hawks John Fogerty sang about get to pontificate on patriotism?
As I have written elsewhere, I believe that it was the Viet Nam War (along with our 60s assassinations) — that irrevocably fucked US up. I often wonder if civil rights spokesman, Ali, would have been killed in friendly fire. I don\’t know how any thinking American can condemn Ali for avoiding \”The Poor, Black Man\’s War\” that sought to continue the flow of oil and mining the gold for the 1%.
Ali, I hope you have found yourself some great sparring partners after fighting so many good fights…you don\’t have to fight anymore…