While I agree with Ali I find it interesting that he is the product of racial mixing. Wonder why he would take this stance then?
Birth Name:
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.
Birth Place:
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
What Race or Ethnicity?:
African American, Irish, English, Italian
Muhammad Ali is a legendary boxer and considered the greatest heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport. He is the descendant of pre-Civil War era American slaves in the South. An article from the BBC states that Ali had an Irish great grandfather named Abe Grady who married an African American woman in the 1860s.
His great-great-grandfather, Armstead S. Morehead, was caucasian, and had English ancestry. Through this great-great-grandfather, Muhammad is also descended from Bartholomew Taliaferro, an Italian from the 1500s
Source:
http://www.wargs.com/other/ali.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/1810535.stm