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Muhammad Ali ‘Transcends Race?’ Twitter Isn’t Here For it or Piers Morgan’s Claim the Boxer Was More Racist Than Trump

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (2)
Muhammad Ali Instagram

Muhammad Ali Instagram

After news broke of boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s death June 3, reports stated the three-time heavyweight title winner “transcended race,” while former CNN host Piers Morgan tweeted the following two days after Ali’s death.

Twitter wasn’t having any of it.

After Morgan declared his statement as fact, the post earned nearly 4,000 retweets and more than 4,500 likes. But many users did not agree with his claim.

One user pointed out Ali was pro-Black but did not want white people exported from America.

Another blamed Morgan’s tweet on his ignorance.

 

Chris Brown added his two cents to the controversy in a lengthy Instagram comment.

“Irrelevant BROADCASTING!!!!! IS ALI RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT????? I CANT WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO WAKE THE F— UP.. What do I know??? I’m just a ‘BAD BOY R&B’ singer. WE HAVE NO LEADERS OR EVEN ANYONE WITH A BACKBONE TO HELP! ITS ABOUT A HANDFUL OF BLACKS THEY USE AS PUPPETS TODAY. YALL KNOW WHO THEY ARE! SPEAK LOGICALLY AND FROM THE HEART AS WELL OR JUST SHUT THE F— UP!!!!”

Morgan later posted a tweet apologizing for his statement. But it’s not the first time the Newick, United Kingdom native has drawn the ire of Twitter for his ignorant remarks on Black celebrities. He also faced criticism after claiming Beyoncé’s political statements in “Formation” were not genuine.

Ali’s political stance for Black liberation is well known, but when he died after a hospitalization, many news outlets relied on the narrative that the boxer “transcends race.” According to History, Ali  – born Cassius Clay, Jr. – was named after a white abolitionist and changed his name because of his religion and Blackness.

 

One user challenged broadcaster Chris Myers’ claim that people saw Ali as colorless because of his athletic achievements.

 

NBC News released a similar report describing Ali as a man who “transcended borders and barriers, race and religion.”

Broderick Greer boldly called out the publication for subtly “erasing his Blackness.”

Another user wrote the late Olympic gold medalist would have been “absolutely shocked to learn he ‘transcended’ race.” Ali wrote in his 1975 autobiography that he tossed the light heavyweight gold medal he won at the 1960 Summer Olympics into the Ohio River to protest the racism he encountered at home in Louisville.

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