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Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali stood together to fight injustice
- Updated: June 4, 2016
6:53 PM ET
In Cleveland, it’s tough to think of Muhammad Ali without thinking of Jim Brown.
The two are almost inextricably linked, products of their race, their abilities and their times.
Both were supreme athletes who set new standards in their respective sports. Both transcended sport, going beyond in an attempt to end the evil of discrimination and prejudice.
“We had the same attitude about who we were,” Brown said in a 2014 interview with Larry King on Ora TV on Hulu. “We never accepted second class citizenship, and we made it known. We gravitated toward each other. I don’t remember when I met him. I don’t remember when I met the great Bill Russell, who is my best friend now.
“We never accepted second class citizenship, and we made it known,” said Jim Brown of Muhammad Ali. “We gravitated toward each other.” AP Photo/File
“But we (Ali and Brown) had the same attitude about being an American and our rights and our equal rights and being outspoken about it, and never taking a back seat to freedom, equality and justice.”
NFL Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell was once asked what he learned from Brown in the time the two played together in Cleveland. Mitchell’s answer: “How to stand up as a black man.”
In the time of Ali and Brown, black men did not sit down with whites, drink from the same water fountain or stay at the same hotels.
Brown and Ali stood up against it, together and individually. Their actions and deeds forged a bond. As Brown posted on Twitter after Ali’s …
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