The passing of the greatest

As we all mourn the passing of Cassius Clay,later to be known as Muhammad Ali we look at all the areas of his life. Sports fans and sports media will profile his boxing career. Here we will discuss his fights outside the boxing ring. This was back in the '60's and 70's. Things were a lot different then than they are today in 2016. Racist Jim Crow laws were still in place throughout the American south with the Ku Klux Klan calling the shots. In a environment such as this you can see how blacks were genuinely oppressed. Ali's refusal to fight in Vietnam was a noble one. His reasons very sound and very accurate. Why should a black man die for a racist country that mistreats him? Ali pointed out that unlike the KKK,the Vietcong did nothing to him and he has no ill will toward them. Those are very sound reasons. Ali refused to help his oppressors. He even told them that if they didn't like it they could send him to jail. A lot of brave men throughout history sacrificed their livelihoods to do the right thing. Edward Snowden is a recent example. Just as Ali's actions initially caused him a lot of trouble he was later vindicated but he did bounce back to retire in 1981. Not only that but it made him a hero. Ali was fighting not only a boxing opponent but a racist society that was content to keep him down but failed to do so. Muhammad Ali is more than a boxing champ. He is an American hero.