Dans les années 1960, alors que la guerre du Vietnam divise les États-Unis, Muhammad Ali refuse la conscription au nom de ses convictions religieuses et devient un symbole de résistance et d’activisme.

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The 1960s in the United States were marked by deep turbulence, with civil rights struggles, anti-war protests, generational clashes, and debates over national identity.

The Vietnam War (1955–1975) escalated under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, becoming deeply controversial by the mid-1960s.


The draft forced many American men into service, and critics argued it fell hardest on poor and minority communities. The term “cannon fodder” reflected the belief that U.S. soldiers, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, were expendable in a distant and unwinnable war.

Public opinion shifted as media coverage revealed the war’s brutality. The conflict was messy and divisive, ending in 1975 with the evacuation of U.S. personnel from Saigon, leaving a sense of humiliation and a growing credibility gap between official statements and reality.

Born Cassius Clay in 1942, Muhammad Ali won Olympic gold in 1960 and became heavyweight champion in 1964. After converting to Islam, he aligned his personal convictions with his religious beliefs. In 1967, he was drafted but refused to step forward, declaring: “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.”

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Convicted of draft evasion, Ali was stripped of his titles, suspended from boxing, and banned from competing. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction (Clay v. United States), validating his stance. Though later vindicated, he lost crucial years during the peak of his athletic career, but his defiance made him a lasting symbol of resistance and anti-war activism.

This raises several interesting questions :

1. When whistleblowers or protesters risk fines, jail, violence, or public backlash - what makes their conviction worth the price?
2. How much do we trust governments in times of crisis ?
3. Does working within a system - say, for a powerful oil company - mean you’re validating it, or can it be a way to push for "change from the inside"? Are there valid reasons not to stay fully true to your values ?

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