Richardson, Ray Lark, Tony Bright, Hazel V Lathan, Stan Ferguson, Andrew Spruill, Jim Noble, Gil

Description

In this clip Muhammad Ali discusses his religious and conscientious objections to participating in the Vietnam War. Overall the program explores the cliche, "Sports have been good to the Black man" by asking, "Has the Black man been good to sports?" With interviews with major sports figures of track, boxing, tennis, baseball, basketball, and football, the program explores the limitations of athleticism in achieving recognition and equality for African Americans. Program interviews, conducted on site, include: Frank Robinson (baseball), Arthur Ashe (tennis), Tom Sanders (basketball), Muhammad Ali (boxing), Ken Hudson (referee), Jim Brown (football), Bill Russell (coach), and Tommie Smith (track). Jim Spruill's introduction reviews athleticism before slavery was abolished, compares the manager-fighter relationship to the master-slave relationship, and talks about the educated athlete. Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) discusses his objections to the Vietnam War. Produced by Ray Richardson. Directed by Stan Lathan.

Record Contributed By

WGBH

Record Harvested From

Digital Commonwealth