World Studies (History)

To what extent did the accomplishments of Muhammad Ali as a boxer

contribute to his activism during the civil rights movement in 1964?

Steps for the competition of the EE investigation

1. Introduction (introduce the civil rights movement, Muhammad Ali in general, and
create a lead that answers the research question)
2. Muhammad Ali`s accomplishments as a boxer
3. What was the civil rights movement in the 1960s
4. How did Muhammad Ali contribute to the movement
5. Connect his accomplishments as a boxer to how this influenced his power as an
activist in the movement
6. conclusion

1. Introduction

The civil rights movement was a crucial turning point for the form the United States and
society in general have molded its laws and their perspectives about African Americans. The
process for the beginning and end of this movement were both very long and complex involving
multiple influential figures. The obvious names that would generally come to mind when
discussing the civil rights movement would be political activists like Martin Luther King,
Malcolm X, etc. However, an important but perhaps underappreciated figure was Muhammad
Ali.

2. Accomplishments as a boxer

On February 25th, 1964, at Miami Beach, Muhammad Ali won against Sony Liston by technical
knockout (TKO) in the seventh round making him the new (at the time) heavyweight WBC
champion of the world. Muhammad Ali`s victory was ground-breaking because not only did he
win in an “emphatic fashion” (as many boxing commentators have described) by proving how
his skills and technical ability surpass Sony Liston`s punching power, but also because he was an
8:1 underdog before the fight. Even though he became an amateur Olympic champion in 1960
and was having a pretty successful professional boxing career up until that point with the record
of …, Sony Liston was 19-0-0 which was a very impressive record for a young prospect in the
sport. However, Sony Liston was a heavy favorite not only because he was the champion but
based on the fact he became champion by a first-round knockout. He was known for his
devastating knockout victories in the sport he conquered through his vicious punching
power(before the Muhammad Ali fight, his record was 35-1-0).

3. What was the civil rights movement in the 1960s

While the civil rights movement ended in 1968, may have happened for the movement during the
1960s. Let's follow the events of the civil rights movement chronologically:

1960: The Sit-In Movement and the Greensboro Four

The Sit-in movement was a movement created by four African-American students of the
Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina (currently known as North Carolina A&T
University) on February 1st. After They bought some products from the F.W Woolworth
department store in Greensboro, they sat at a “whites only” lunch counter (which meant that only
white people could stay on). Because of this, they were refused of being served and then asked to
exit the facility. That very next day, 20 African American students went to that same spot as a
form of protest. The movement became bigger, spreading to Nashville and Atlanta. Eventually,
the F.W Woolworth of Greensboro started to serve African Americans (in July of 1960).

1960: Ruby
Bridges and the New Orleans school
integration

On November 14, A six-year-old girl named Ruby Bridges was escorted to the William Frantz
Elementary School by 4 federal marshals. The reason being she was entering in a recently new
all races school (before it was only for white people). Even though she suffered many threats and
bullying over the years she persisted studing in that school. Her bravery was such an inspiratio it
influenced the making of the Norman Rockwell painting “The problem We All Live With” made
in 1964.

1961: Freedom Rides

On the 4th of May, six white people and seven African Americans took two buses to New
Orleans which marked the start of the freedom rights movement. The freedom riders utilized
facilities for the opposing race when their buses stopped somewhere in the route, testing the
Supreme Court`s decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) case, which expanded a previous rule
prohibiting segregated interstate bus travel (1946) to include bus terminals and bathrooms. In
South Carolina, the group encountered violence. On May 14, a bus was firebombed and the
freedom riders were attacked when it stopped to replace a cut tire. The initial riders were able to
continue their journey, so a second party of ten people partially coordinated by the SNCC and
based in Nashville, took their place. Other groups of freedom riders would take over once the
arrested or physically assaulted riders were released. U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
issued an injunction on May 29th instructing the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce
segregation prohibitions more aggressively, and it went into effect in September of the same
year.

Quotes by Muhammad Ali:

 1. “In an age of Jim Crow laws and brutal lynchings, for a young Black man to stand
up and proclaim his greatness, defy convention, refuse to be humble or to know
his place, was an incomparable act of bravery and defiance.”
2. “Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it. I am
Muhammad Ali, a free name – it means beloved of God, and I insist people use it
when people speak to me.”
3. “The very dominant idea in Islam is the making of peace and not war; our refusal
to go armed is our proof that we want peace. We felt that we had no right to take
part in a war with nonbelievers of Islam who have always denied us justice and
equal rights. . . “

Sources I`ve gathered so far

https://library.louisville.edu/ali/SocialJustice_CivilRights

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/6/5/how-muhammad-ali-influenced-the-civil-rights-mov
ement

https://exposure.org.uk/young_peoples_work/muhammad-ali-icon-of-the-civil-rights-movement/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44981261

https://vault.si.com/vault/1964/03/09/muhammad-ali-sonny-liston-first-fight-cassius-clay

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement".
Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Jul. 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/list/timeline-of-the-american-civil-rights-movement. Accessed 6
March 2024.
Table of contents

Introduction
Works Cited