Two weeks ago, news that Muhammad Ali’s unsigned Vietnam-era draft card was going up for auction.
It was news that didn’t receive nearly enough attention, especially in light of the whitewashing/erasure of Black history that’s currently taking place.
The card, which uses his birth name of Cassius Marsellus Clay Jr., sparked Ali’s temporary fall from boxing and made him an even bigger target for racists already tired of the loud, Black, proud and Muslim athlete, will be auctioned off by Christie’s in an online event this month and could fetch anywhere from $3 to $5 million.
The item, according to the AP, ended up in Christie’s possession “via descendants of Ali.”
“Being reminded of my father’s message of courage and conviction is more important now than ever, and the sale of his draft card at Christie’s is a powerful way to share that legacy with the world,” said Ali’s daughter Rasheda Ali Walsh in a statement issued by Christie’s.
While the auction has the support of his daughter, the sale of the card is an improper way of sharing Ali’s legacy with the world.
It feels like a commercialized and capitalistic action that robs Black history and sports history of an important and significant memento that deserves to be preserved by an institution like the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) for the public to experience, learn from and celebrate.
In 1967, Ali, who didn’t believe in the Vietnam war became the face of the antiwar movement after refusing to sign his military draft card.
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?,” said Ali that year after refusing to register for the draft. “No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end.
“I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here.”
In response, he was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his boxing title and banned from boxing.
It was a tumultuous and painful moment for Ali and his family. For some, it was a proud moment, but for others, it was a moment to vilify the brash Ali.
But for Ali and those who supported him, it was a moment of strength. One which demonstrated conviction and absolute belief.
He unhesitatingly and unabashedly risked his career and life to stand up against what he felt was an unjust cause, and it cost him dearly.
Yet that was a sacrifice and punishment he was willing to endure.
It exemplifies a fight that we so desperately need now as Tr**p and his administration are ripping apart everything focused on equality, diversity, education, justice and humanity.
And that’s why auctioning of his draft card feels so wrong.
