Reply #46: "In order for the people

[H2O Man]

of this world to truly search their souls to rectify the many wrongs that were heaped upon the back of this man in the past, and restore the proper justice due this amazing human being, we must first and foremost be absolutely absolute in our total acceptance of him. By this time we should all be fully prepared to reconcile our individual differences with the totality of all his tremendously talented attributes, all of which contribute to the integrity of this man. For who else isbetter qualified to be himself -- if not Muhammad Ali?

"We must also learn to not only accept and appreciate Muhammad Ali's astronomical fistic feats, but to accept as well his moralistic feats in a faltering world. For surely if we are not competent enough to even provide him with this small token of our collective appreciation, then how in the world are we capable of twisting our mouths to call him OUR CHAMP? We would be doing this man a great disservice if we, the people, accepted any less of Muhammad Ali than his total humanity. If Ali had decided upon adopting any other religious faith with the exception of Islam, of course, there never would have been a PROBLEM at all.

"So to the black people of America, Muhammad Ali means having the mental and physical strength to overcome all insurmountable odds -- insurmountable to the extent that existed in 1967 when he was illegally stripped of his title and persecuted to the point of financial bankruptcy for refusing to enter the Armed Services against the explicit doctrines of his Islamic religion. And the odds became even more unimaginable when the Government prosecuted him for the refusal and sentenced him to serve three-to-five years in a Federal Penitentiary, before the United States Supreme Court stepped in to overturn this racially motivated conviction.

"...Muhammad Ali means Constant Struggle! But THAT'S what America is all about. Is it not?"

--What Ali Means to Black People ... And all People; Rubin "Hurricane" Carter; World Boxing Magazine; 1974