It needs to be
said. One must challenge racism. And this is one I’m going to air from my past.
A number of years ago when I was living out in the Bush at Wello, Wellington near
Dubbo in New South’s Wales Central West, over 400 kilometres north west of
Sydney. I was wearing a Muhammad Ali t-shirt that I bought in a sports shop in
Dubbo. I was shopping in Woolworths and this old farmer I knew well started
abusing me.
His was full of
hate and bitterness and he said in a venomous voice, ‘What are you doing wearing Cassius
Clay for? He repeated it a number of times loudly. Everyone in the supermarket
was looking at him. All of us were stunned by his hate.
I didn’t reply
because I thought what’s the point. He’s a bitter man not worth the time.
However, apart from his bigotry I was taken back by him saying Cassius Clay and
not Muhammad Ali, the name my hero from when I was kid took when the champion.
adopted the Muslim faith.
I only found out
the answer recently. When I came across Henry Rollins, the American singer,
writer, spoken word artist, actor and comedian, spoke about his father’s racism.
He said how his father refused to call him Muhammad Ali the name of his choice. His
father would make the point of only calling him Cassius Clay and nothing else.
Rollins’s father would have been the same age as that Wello farmer.
There are those words
from Muhammad Ali that will outlive the hate merchants and bigots.
“I would like to
be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times.
Who was humorous
and who treated everyone right.
As a man who never
looked down on those who looked up to him, and who helped as many people as he
could.
As a man who stood
up for his beliefs no matter what.
As a man who tried
to unite all humankind through faith and love.
And if all that's
too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered only as a great boxer
who became a leader and a champion of his people.
And I wouldn’t
even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was.”
~ Muhammad Ali
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