When wilder is pretending to be black, him and Pryor are walking and wider says we are not going to make it past the cops.
Pryor says something like dont worry about the cops, I hope we dont see any muslims?
What's this in reference to?
Their dangerous nature ?
My guess is he was referring to Nation of Islam (sometimes called Black Muslims) , which a black separatist group known for violence. NOI assassinated Malcom X when he starting supporting harmonious relationships between all peoples.
shareWell, they do have a long history of violence.
shareThat made no sense to me, even when you figure the reference to terrorism. If anybody Pryor and Wilder should be afraid of other black people calling them out. Even back in the 70s acting like that in public would have been noticeable.
shareI think kwestmo is right about the line referring to the Nation of Islam, the black religious group with strong separatist views, which has had a big presence in Chicago for decades. In the black community of that time and place, "muslim" would have referred by default to people in the NOI and similar groups, and not at all to Middle Eastern immigrant muslims.
shareNo, the Nation of Islam if anything was associated with Mohammed Ali who wS a member and a national hero. If anything he was probably referring to Palestinians.
shareNo, he wasn't referring to Palestinians. If you were to mention the word "muslim" to anyone in the inner-city black communities of Chicago or New York in those days, their first and only thought would be the Nation of Islam, since it was such a prominent presence in their community.
In the 60s and early 70s Muhammad Ali was a very controversial figure among mainstream Americans because of ditching his Anglo-sounding name Cassius Clay as a 'slave name,' refusing to report for army service for the Vietnam War, and publicly proclaiming adherence to the Nation of Islam (which was considered a radical and subversive group preaching a message of hate, and was the subject of ongoing FBI investigations), and giving publicity to their strong racial beliefs and even proclaiming "My enemy is the white people."
I grew up in th 70s and Ali was never viewed as a Black Muslim in my circles and I didn't grow up in a black community but a predominantly White, Methodist/Pentacostal/Catholic/Lutheran one at that. I also had relatives who lived in Compton and Inglewood in the 70s where the black community was much tighter knit that it is today and the term Black Muslim didn't trigger any derision or fear at all.
I think we both need to watch the movie again as I haven't seen it in over 15 years and that particular punch line never stuck out to me so maybe there's more to the story.
He changed his name to a Muslim name. One of the most famous people in the world changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammed Ali. He refused to go into the Vietnam War because of his new religious beliefs, because he converted, he was stripped of his title, and he clearly promoted being a Muslim.
I'm sure people took notice outside of your sleepy town.
Oh looky, a Zoomer read cliff notes off Wikipedia and suddenly thinks he has a counterpoint to mybpost 🙄
shareNo, just living on this planet we call Earth.
So you don't think Cassius Clay was one of the most famous people on the planet at that time?
You really look stupid here, pal. No shame, though.
shareI really have to think that Pryor was supplying at least some of his own dialogue. Colin Higgins writes well, but many of Pryor's lines are just too pointed to not have been written by Pryor himself.
I have read the available trivia, but have seen no mention of it, however.
I don’t know why there’s even much discussion about it, he clearly meant the Nation of Islam, 1000%. Some of these answers are moronic.
share