THE CHAMP WAS in no mood to deal with his father. On Saturday, March 7, Cassius and Rudy arrived at Standiford Field, where nearly four hundred people, including the Louisville mayor, welcomed him home. At the airfield, he met with reporters, fans, and family, who all expected him to arrive with “a boyish grin, bold boasting, and comic attempts at poetry.” The public expected an entertainer, but the champ was not interested. When his father tried to crown him with a golden papier-maché coronet, scarlet cloak, and scepter, Cassius, looking visibly agitated, pulled away and said, “I don’t want any of that stuff.” His father didn’t let up, pestering him again until he finally posed for photographers wearing the royal costume with a frown.33
Clay fidgeted throughout his press conference, appearing uncomfortable with the entire affair. Rubbing his eyes, he complained that he was tired and just wanted to go home. After answering a few questions, he signed autographs using the name that people had always recognized. Elijah Muhammad may have given him a new name, but he had not yet fully embraced it. “I plan to fight under the name Cassius Clay, unless,” he said, “I’m ordered not to.”34
During his stay in Louisville, he visited a local radio station, answering questions from listeners. A nervous boy called and addressed the champ, “Cassius?” The champ replied, “Cassius speaking.” He did not correct the young fan for failing to use his Muslim name or denounce his “slave name.” He did not deliver a harangue about integration or sermonize about the wisdom of Elijah Muhammad. His fans in Louisville did not want to hear him hollering about the Nation of Islam. They wanted to hear from their hometown hero. When a caller suggested that he should boast less and show more humility, Cassius surprised the man with a clever lesson. “Well you keep this in your books,” he said. “A wise man can act a fool, but a fool cannot act a wise man.”35
Stunned, the caller did not know what he had just heard. “Uh-huh,” he said.
Impressed, the show’s host, Milton Metz, said, “That’s pretty good. Where’s that quotation from?”
“Oh, that’s something I figured out,” Clay replied.
“Sounds like Shakespeare.”
Cassius laughed. “Might be. I heard it somewhere.”36
He knew exactly where he had heard the maxim. He had been reciting it ever since he fought Henry Cooper in London. Now, about a week after he said that he had fallen in love with Malcolm watching him debate on television, he could not even utter his friend’s name on the radio.
Chapter Fourteen
AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
The Negro has long since learned that his real heroes are always depicted as villains by the white world.
—LIBERATOR
America was unprepared for the name “Muhammad Ali.” Seldom had a man’s new name mattered so much to so many. He was not the first boxer to change his name. Countless other fighters changed their names too, many the sons of immigrants, who willingly adopted a new identity to make themselves more acceptable, more marketable, and more “American.” But none, until Muhammad Ali, chose a name that was freighted with such racial and political meaning.
Fight fans, promoters, and sportswriters had no problems using the other aliases, yet for political reasons, many refused to say the name “Muhammad Ali.” It sounded too foreign and too subversive. Skeptical of his sincerity, the Chicago Tribune printed an editorial assailing his religious beliefs: “It needs to be made quite clear that the ‘Islam’ which heavyweight champion Cassius Clay has adopted is a far, far cry from the religion practiced in the Arab world.” Mocking Ali, columnist Jim Murray referred to him as “Abdul the Bull Bull Ameer.” Sonny Liston dismissed the champ’s new name too: “Ahmed Mali, Mamud Wally, who’s that? I met you as Cassius Clay and I’ll leave you as Cassius Clay.” Recognizing the champ’s Muslim name would have meant accepting Ali’s freedom to define himself, a freedom that many whites—and even some blacks—were unwilling to acknowledge.1
Muhammad Ali worshipped Elijah Muhammad. So did his brother Rahman. Both men denounced their “slave name”—their father’s surname—and embraced Elijah’s paternal authority. As Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight champion became the most valuable commodity in the Nation of Islam. With Ali at Elijah’s side, Malcolm X became expendable. Associated Press