Ronald Reagan promised to ring Cooney if he beat Holmes

I am a conservative who may well have followed old John Brown right the hell into Harpers Ferry. Reagan promised, or promised and in fact called a fellow Irish-American? So what. There is nothing wrong with ethnicities preferring the company of their fellow ethnics -or rooting for their fellow ethics.

I used to be a behavior specialist in a middle and high school of a school that was racially-mixed. In the cafe at lunch, Jamaicans would sit with Jamaicans and speak in Patwa (or English, what they spoke isn't the point), and Latins would sit with Latins and speak Spanish, etc. Every now and then a moon-bat staff member would ring their hands and lament this. Sometimes they wanted to force intermingling in the cafe. "Tolerance! Diversity!" They'd cry. As I saw it (and see it writ large), there was no problem unless there was a pattern of exclusion of others. Then they get it.

 

I am old enough to remember the Holmes-Cooney fight, this story did the rounds at the time - it was accepted as true.

I accept that the above doesn't prove that it was true, but this story is certainly not something that was fabricated years afterward.

 

Dude was a white Republican. Why the hell would he call a black, vocal champion and risk pissing off his base?

 

i dont doubt it ..... and historically, the Democrat party and the KKK were pretty much the same people.

 

who wants to talk to Reagan anyway ?

 

Holmes made Reagan cry when he whipped Cooney :yep

 

I recall Larry Holmes claiming this in his autobiography. If it is indeed true,then it's a disgrace,if Reagan had no intention of doing the same with Holmes.

 

So was Frank Sinatra,until Reagan stood for election.

 

I appreciate the point you are trying to make from a sociological standpoint but it does not fly for a president of the US. THis country is a melting pot and in a racially charged event such as that fight was such a move would have had terrible implications. That being said it was always no more than an unfounded rumor.

 

is it still okay if we substitute "white American " for "Irish-American" ?

 

If it was true, then from a political standpoint it would not have a been wise move on Reagan's part. Sure.

 

White and every other color are ludicrous ways to categorize people. Ethnicity is not.

Do you have a problem with the annual Puerto Rican parade in NYC? How about The St. Patty's day parade in South Boston? Are these -block your ears Mabel- excluding people?

 

Regardless it was either naive or perhaps racially motivated support for a President. Was Reagan so ignorant he was oblivious to the racial undertones of the fight and the race riots following Johnson-Jeffries? I don't personally think it's a big deal but it's more evident of the racial issues in America as a whole

Reagan was half Irish for the record. I also feel pretty bad for Cooney, if he was black he would have made less money cashing out, but wouldn't have been crucified like he was and probably would have had a better career after. As a whole I think he's pretty underrated

 

Maybe he was just a Cooney fan. :nut

 

no they are not they are a american. why didnt holmes get the call for his ambassadorship of boxing throughout thew entire world