Would Ali have acted as Louis Did?

That isn't true at all. Those sorts of stories were circulated by the US millitary after the war. There were even comic books printed and distributed. It was the returning soldiers who were the heart and soul of the war protests. It's simply been airbrushed from history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDk6Qal2DCI

go to the 11 min mark, nobody's spitting on anybody you'll notice

 

I won't argue because that is YOUR opinion ,but despite your protestations these men were highly respected/revered during their lifetimes & are still honored until this day. Someone had to point out the hypocrisy & injustice of the US Military/Society & these men successfully did it(along with a few hundred other Blacks ). I really was only pointing out that these men are not historical pariahs nor seen as "fools" for objecting to serve the US miltary ,in PEACE or WAR time, until Blacks recieved the full benefits of citzenships as Whites.

Ironically Joe Louis who served ,donated a few of his fight purses to the governmentatsch,etc... seems to go down in the annals of history as the "fool" (or less SANE one) as he was financially ruined by the same above stated government.

Ali was an extremely loyal follower of Elijah Muhammad(even eventually turned his back on Malcolm X for attacking Elijah Muhammad) & it isn't beyond reason to believe he would have done the same thing "IF" he had been a member of the NOI in '42. And like Rustin,MAlcolm, Muhammad,etc... his image would have bee rehabilitated (though ot as well as it has now).

 

If Ali had was around back then, and knew what fate the Nazis would have had in store for him as a member of what they considered to be an inferior race, OF COURSE he would have fought them. I'm asking YOU...nevermind what esteem certain people have for Malcolm X or Elijah Muhammad and all that...by laying on their dead asses (ANYBODY, who did this, no matter what race, nationality, etc.,), and letting other able-bodied men make the sacrifice FOR THEM in fighting the Nazis, do you think that was "honorable"? Did they even have an inkling of what an impotent, self-serving "protest" they were participating in, in not seeing the bigger picture of humanity as a whole, those races who were destined to be exterminated when the Nazis got their hands on them? That to passively refuse to fight meant to lend one's hand to the enemy, and thereby not do one's part in what was ultimately proven to be the saving grace of humanity in defeating the Nazis? This isn't my opinion, by the way, it's how the war was won, and how civilization was saved.

 

That's exactly why I say this is a MOOT point because I have laid out what I think may have happened ,but no one knows & it is useless to go back & forth about whether he "would' or 'no he would not'. It was a different era so who knows ,but had he been the religiously fervent ,devout follower of Elijah Muhammad as he proved to be in the 60's the man may just have objected & served time like Muhammed & Rustin did.
And like Rustin, Malcolm X & Elijah Muhammad his legacy would have more than likely been rehabilitated was the point I was responding to. Bayard Rustin & Malcolm X names aren't all over PUBLIC Schools/Streets/Library because they are deemed 'dishonorable cowards' or 'fools in the annals of history' ,'self serving' or whatever other derogatory names you can think of for them. Their deliberate contributions to the struggle against racial opression/injustice in the US are nearly unassailable.

 

The betrayal and screwing of Joe Louis by the IRS, especially after he donated his entire purses of a couple of title defenses to the Army/Navy, and the persecution he underwent in the years afterward speaks to the detriment of the Government that did it to him, not to him....Joe Louis was anything but a fool, in fact the U.S. government should be ashamed for the treatment Louis went through, but as for enlisting and fighting in the war that history calls the "just war" against the evil regimes we were up against, he did the right thing and was an example for all.

 

Possibility, but Ali and Louis were two different men in two different times.As mentioned before, the NOI had a profound influence on many of the things Ali did, but no one could say for 100% certaincy.

 

Ali would have been exactly the same as he was in the 60's. Leopards don't change their spots.

 

In the 1940s Ali wouldn't have been with the Nation of Islam, so would most likely have different outlook. His boasting was also supposedly taken from the wrestler Gentle George, something that wouldn't happen in the 40s

Louis was trained by his handlers to kowtow and portray himself as overly modest with statements like 'I'm sure there are better boxers than me but they wear suits and work in offices'. If Ali has the same handlers does he come across the same way? Maybe it's just a construct of marketing, much like 24/7

 

I reckon that's pretty much spot on !

 

atsch Am I the only one around here who owns a fokin' magic eight ball?

 

It was a different day and age..a very different war than the Viet Nam war..and you would hope anyway, giving him the benefit of a doubt, that Ali would have been patriotic like Louis was. if he wasn't, then it would be to his shame and disgrace, that's for sure.

 

Well, i would sure hope not...because that would put him on par with being a collaborator in words and spirit with the Nazis and Imperial Japs.