Did Muhammad Ali Change America

Sam Moore

Mr. Litz

American Litz

December 5, 2016

The Change America Needed Throughout History there have been a handful of people who were considered the most inspirational people and they inspired change the most. Muhammad Ali was undoubtedly a very inspirational person and as his life went on, he continued to inspire others to step up and make change. Muhammad Ali was born January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His birth name being Cassius Clay and his parents were Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., and Odessa Grady Clay. Ali had a brother named Rahman Ali, and was married to Lonnie Ali. He made his name by beating some of the biggest names in boxing history such as Joe Frazier and George Foreman and Sonny Liston in on of the biggest

Most of the other activists would choose to fight the prejudices by speaking out in protests, speeches, and on the radio. But the way Ali did was by denying what they wanted him to do, his most famous instance of this was when the government wanted him to join the army and help fight during the Vietnam War and he continuosly denied them and remained in the United States. In the article ¨The Importance of Muhammad Ali¨, it states ¨Ali’s impact was growing—among black Americans, among those who opposed the war in Vietnam¨ (Hauser par. 10). Ali standing up against these prejudices helped spark the rest of the nation to join him in the fight. Muhammad Ali wouldn’t do all of this alone, he would frequently meet with others who want to fight this problem in the country and help raise awareness in their different ways. One of the biggest people Ali came together with was Malcolm X, which brought a lot of attention to the subject of racial

3). The way Ali would speak out was extremely different from the way Malcolm X decided to raise awareness, them meeting up was a different change for the others who were against the same subject because their variety in actions would draw in a larger crowd of people based on their different beliefs. As a result of Ali publicly speaking out against the problem with racial stereotyping, it caused more people to get creative with how they would fight against it as well. People would come out from being afraid of their consequences and actively fight for the rights they deserve, which really got the movement going and becoming more popular. What Muhammad Ali did has still had an effect on modern day life, if he never would have started to actively speak out against society, the world may not have had the same effects and changes that occurred. As a result of him fighting and denying what others wouldn’t, it granted the African Americans the freedom and rights they deserved and fought for. These protest and fights that the African Americans went through ended up making the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendment having an effect and actually meaning something in the country for colored people. In the current day, African Americans are