JACK JOHNSON POSTHUMOUS PARDON

In 1913, African-American boxing legend Jack Johnson was convicted and jailed for dating a white woman.  Now, President Obama is considering a posthumous pardon nearly a century after his conviction.

Jack Johnson was the first black heavyweight boxing champion.  His talents were simply unmatched.  Not only did he offend whites with his physical prowess in the ring, but also with his flaunting of wealth, fast cars, and his rather overt penchant for white women.   White men did not take at all kindly to their women being so fascinated with the well-built black boxer.  He had taken their title, he had taken their money, and now he was taking their women. Realizing Johnson could never beat them in the courts, he was railroaded and convicted for violating the Mann Act, which outlawed the transportation of women across state lines for “immoral” purposes.  Johnson was first arrested in 1912, four years after winning the heavyweight crown. But when that case fell apart, investigators went after him again with a similar offense involving a woman he had dated several years earlier. Justice Department lawyers argued it was a “crime against nature” for him to have a sexual relationship with a white woman and an all white jury convicted Johnson in less than two hours.  He served 10 months in prison on charges “brought forward clearly to keep him away from the boxing ring, where he continued to defeat his white opponents,” Sen. John McCain said.  McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who are both boxing enthusiasts, have been pushing for Johnson’s pardon for years. 

Johnson’s greatest crime, according to white society, was committed on July 4, 1910 when he successfully defeated Jim Jeffries, a white boxer also known as the “Great White Hope.”  Many white fans saw Jeffries as the best chance to win back “their” boxing title from the negro champ.  But when Johnson beat Jeffries before a stunned, almost entirely white crowd in Reno, Nevada, race riots followed. More than 20 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and not surprisingly, most victims were black.  So when they “couldn’t beat him in the ring, the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts,” said filmmaker Ken Burns who is documenting the story in “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.”

McCain and King both introduced resolutions for a presidential pardon back in 2005, but then President George W. Bush passed on the opportunity.   McCain, who says he made a grave mistake by once voting against a federal holiday to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., sees the Jack Johnson pardon as a way to right an old wrong.  As the first African-American U.S. President, Mr. Obama is almost certain to issue the rare but historical posthumous pardon, and is expected to make a formal announcement within the coming days.