“No Quarrel with Them Vietcong”: Muhammad Ali’s Cold War

When Cassius Clay became heavyweight boxing champion in 1964, no one expected him to take political stands. Yet he joined the controversial Nation of Islam and, within a few years, refused to be drafted into the US Army, for which he was convicted in federal court. Ali’s opposition to the Vietnam War grew out of his acute awareness of American racism and his support for decolonization movements overseas. He was stripped of his title and barred from the prize ring for four years, until the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction.