'The Greatest' Irish Boxer Muhammad Ali

When I was in college, in the early 1970s, Ali my hero, the only individual I was ready to identify as fully committed to his principles, and willing to sacrifice mightily for them.

Ali's Irish ancestor was a white Irish man who freely chose to marry a black American woman. Sadly though, Ali's own racism enabled him to spread the story that his Irish ancestry was the result not of a loving marriage but of a white (Irish) slave master raping one of his black slaves. He was an Irish-American but like so many, he was so uneducated about his own Irishness that his ignorance allowed him to have hatred where their should not have been any.

Is that true, John?  I hadn't heard that about Ali making that story up about his ancestry.  If that's accurate, I don't have a whole lot of respect for the man -- not that I was his biggest fan to begin with.

Here's his comments on RTE about about 27 minutes 30 seconds "How did I get white blood?":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QWvBBMtRak

Obviously he was at a time in his life when he was a militant Muslim and I understand his anger at how blacks were being treated but....like many others he assumed that his ancestry was caused by his evil white ancestor (in this case from Ireland) when in fact his Irish ancestor married a freed slave of his own free will and what about 100 years before "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner."

Thanks, John.  Just watched that part.  Yes, he sounds exceedingly foolish with those comments given the revelation of the true story.  As you've said, I understand his anger with the way some white people were treating some black people.  However, it never helps one's cause to speak in grossly inaccurate or grossly misinformed hyperbole.

On 5 Sep 1960 he won the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Rome

John, I've been confused about what appears to be contradictions about Ali's views on his Irish ancestry -- disdain vs. pride. I wonder if his views on Black separatism evolved in much the way that Malcolm X's did.  Another new film, When Ali Came to Ireland, may provide some insights.  According to the film website, "The trip had a huge impact on those Ali met and, some say, on the man himself. The documentary reveals that his trip to Ireland influenced how Ali viewed white people in the aftermath of his conversion to Islam and his declarations that white people were devils."

http://www.whenalicametoireland.com/

Thank you Valerie, I'd like to see that film someday. And I'm sure you're right re Malcolm X and Mecca and Ali and Ireland, softening their attitudes. I've just always thought it was wrong of him to tell that story when he obviously was making a huge assumption and had never actually checked the marriage records (or had them checked) of his own ancestors. And I liked the fact that he seemed to admire Irish people because of their own struggle for freedom.