Plain Talker Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 You represent your country at the Olympics. You win a gold medal. You return home where you cannot sit in the same place on the bus as a white person, you cannot use the same toilets as a white person, you cannot sit on the same park bench as a white person, you cannot be educated in the same school as a white person & if you so much as look at a white woman you risk death. I don't blame him. And anyone who does should attempt to imagine what it was like to be treated as a second class inferior person in your own country. Being treated as a second-class citizen makes his then stance understandable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pessimistic1 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 There is no excuse for racism. He was, don't know if he still is, a racist. Dress it up as you like, make excuses for his circumstances, or excuse him because he's black, he was / is racist. Put it this way if a white man was beaten very badly by black youths and mugged, would he be justified to vote BNP in future? That's what some of you are saying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjw47 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Being treated as a second-class citizen makes his then stance understandable. Not sure if you meant that sarcastically or genuinely . could be taken either way. If genuine then I agree, no one should have to put up with the treatment meted out to African Americans during that period in history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pessimistic1 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Being treated as a second-class citizen makes his then stance understandable. He was a multi millionaire... hardly living in poverty, forced on him by old whitey... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenRivers Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Would people call this racism? Yes, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halibut Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 There is no excuse for racism. He was, don't know if he still is, a racist. Dress it up as you like, make excuses for his circumstances, or excuse him because he's black, he was / is racist. Put it this way if a white man was beaten very badly by black youths and mugged, would he be justified to vote BNP in future? That's what some of you are saying... No, he'd still be an idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Macbeth Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 His bitterness is clearly understandable in the context of what was happening at the time. Saying what he said is, by most peoples standards, not Ok. That sums it up for me. The 60s was a very different time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjw47 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 There is no excuse for racism. He was, don't know if he still is, a racist. Dress it up as you like, make excuses for his circumstances, or excuse him because he's black, he was / is racist. Put it this way if a white man was beaten very badly by black youths and mugged, would he be justified to vote BNP in future? That's what some of you are saying... Question, has anyone ever treat you with contempt purely because of the colour of your skin or your religion? If so have you had to put up with it over a period of years? Unless you can answer yes to both those questions, I would suggest that maybe you are not competent to judge another mans reactions to his circumstances. ---------- Post added 07-01-2014 at 19:08 ---------- He was a multi millionaire... hardly living in poverty, forced on him by old whitey... Ali was born a multi millionaire? Didn't realise that, OK call him N****R all day long then if he's rich. The nerve of the man expecting to be treat with respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Muhammad Ali wasn't racist at all- you have to consider the era in which he lived. During that particular time the 1960's and 1970's there was loads of tension between African Americans and whites, so one would expect him to have a hostility towards white people given the circumstances. Ali himself said " A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty, has wasted thirty years of his life". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pessimistic1 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 No, he'd still be an idiot. What's the difference, apart from one of the racists being black? You can't say personal experiences are justified in making someone a racist, but then deny the same consideration to the other. That sums it up for me. The 60s was a very different time. That's when Enoch Powel made his infamous speech. Can he be forgiven? Question, has anyone ever treat you with contempt purely because of the colour of your skin or your religion? Well not me... but I'm speaking on behalf of the chap who went on to vote BNP, he's clearly being treated differently because of the colour of his skin. Do you have any sympathy for him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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