90 years ago, Boxer Jack Johnson jailed for dating White Women.

I had never heard of Jack Johnson. Obviously a man before his time.

Three years later, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes. But the flamboyant boxer's real crime had been flaunting white society by having romantic relationships with white women.

Story


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A few of Johnson's quotes,

"Why are white women so attracted to black men? We eat cold eels and think distant thoughts".

"For every point I'm given, I'll have earned two, because I'm a Negro".

Like everything else Congress is waiting for Obama to act.

Now, under a black president and black attorney general, the Justice Department is against pardoning Johnson. In the last session of Congress, both houses of Congress passed a resolution urging a pardon pushed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., "to expunge a racially motivated abuse of the prosecutorial authority of the federal government." But President Barack Obama has not acted on it.

Johnson was hated by "White America" except for a few ladies.

Johnson was hated by many white Americans, especially after retaining his title by defeating white boxer Jim Jeffries in the 1910 "Fight of the Century." Jeffries had come out of retirement for the bout, and Johnson's victory infuriated whites, setting off deadly race riots across the country.

This guy was a social pioneer. 90 years later...Give him his pardon.

Supporters were sure they'd have better luck with Obama, who became the nation's first black president 100 years after Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion. But they're still waiting.

I think I would of liked Mr. Johnson.

One last quote,

The possession of muscular strength and the courage to use it in contests with other men for physical supremacy does not necessarily imply a lack of appreciation for the finer and better things of life. ~ Jack Johnson (boxer)

Mr. President if you had one tenth the courage of this man....Just sign the damn Pardon...

Well, it was like a million years ago. Is it that important to apologize for the past? Everyone involved is dead. The world of yesterday is dead.

Here's a video showing some of that fight between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries from 1910.



From 10.00 onwards, Jeffries gets pwnt !

reply to post by whyamIhere
Good OP.

Great points at the end. Star and Flag!

Love it when someone finds out a little common knowledge, then thinks they hit a gold mine.

What's up with that?

I did not realize he was the first ever prosecuted under the Mann Act.

The first person prosecuted under the act was African-American heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson in a case with strong racist overtones.[3] He had had an interracial affair with a white prostitute named Lucille Cameron, but she refused to cooperate with the prosecution; Johnson later married her. Less than a month later he was re-arrested for having crossed a state line, before the Mann Act was passed, with Belle Schreiber, a prostitute who had left a brothel. She testified against him, and Johnson was convicted and sentenced to the maximum penalty of a year and a day in prison.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Sherlock Holmes



Awesome clip...

I really enjoyed seeing him come to life.

Thanks

Oh this is a cool subject, I know a tiny bit about Jack Johnson. I saw a special about him on PBS once and he just stuck with me.

Yeah, he had a relationship with a white women and at the time that was strongly frowned upon. He was picked on and discriminated against through out his boxing career yet he kept going, on top of that, he was one hell of a fighter.

If you get the time, see if you can't find some old footage of him boxing, on youtube or something, it's old but it is around.

Now, my question is, knowing the story, why would anyone be against pardoning him?


Just wow.....

This is a man I would love to meet if I had a time machine... I don't really know what else I can say.

His story inspired Miles Davis to write one of his greatest late-period albums - "A Tribute to Jack Johnson". The album is as groundbreaking as the man himself was.

Originally posted by JustinSee
Well, it was like a million years ago. Is it that important to apologize for the past? Everyone involved is dead. The world of yesterday is dead.

Agreed. IM sick of the apologist attitude our nation has for things that none of us had anything to do with. Im not saying lets have no compassion but our govt is digging up nearly 100 year old cases to occupy their time while our country is in a nosedive. This is the prime example of why our govt is considered unfit to serve. I also believe that to suggest obama cares about this man or his past troubles is stretching a line thin anyway...he is concentrating on campaigning in all 57 or 58 states....

Here is a quick example of him being picked on by the media at the time. Particularly an influential writer at the time, Jack London.



And a bit that tells you the kind of guy and boxer he was as well as the trials he had to face.



And just for fun, how about one of his actual matches against James J. Jefferies( Jeffries was like the Mike Tyson of the time)....Interestingly, this match was scheduled for a whopping 45 rounds!!!

reply to post by gimme_some_truth



I watched all three videos...

This guy was amazing.

We have truly come a long way...

I'm surprised that back then no KKK crazies tried to kill him. They were probably afraid of him!! lol

While we are throwing YouTube links up, here's Miles Davis's masterful trumpet tribute to the mighty Jack Johnson. Still makes the hair stand up...

reply to post by Cryptonomicon


Oh there were those at the time, who wished such things upon him, though I don't think that anyone ever tried.


He had such an interesting life.


en.wikipedia.org...

Check out the section about his personal life, it's funny, actually.

I particularly like this part

Once, when he was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket (a large sum at the time), he gave the officer a $100 bill; when the officer protested that he couldn't make change for that much, Johnson told him to keep the change, as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed.

Now, a bit more about his relationship with his wife.

The official charge at the time, was brought on because it was said that his relationship violated the Mann Act. The mann act making it illegal to take women across state lines for " immoral reasons"..... Apparently his wife used to be a prostitute....

That was his crime, he married a white woman, who had a rough past. He deserves his pardon.

Now, sadly, Jack died in 1946. He was angry because a restaurant refused to serve him, because he was black. he drove away and crashed and died.

He was taken to the nearest " black hospital" remember this was 1946..... where he later died.

You would think such a man who was world famous at the time, would have a better grave, but it was left unmarked for years. Now a simple marker that reads "Johnson" is all that stands over his grave.

His body can be found at Graceland Cemetary,Chicago.

reply to post by whyamIhere


Yeah, we have come a long way. We still have a long way to go, but we have come a long way.

Now, we really need to pardon this man. He was arrested on trumped up and racially motivated charges and it should not stand.

Why anyone would have an issue with pardoning him, is beyond me.

reply to post by gimme_some_truth



Do you think Obama might be dodging this subject?

Do you think a pardon could be used against Obama?

Or is this another case of leading from behind?

I really had a great time reading about Mr. Jack Johnson.

His antics in context...Were decades ahead of their time.

Originally posted by whyamIhere
reply to post by gimme_some_truth

 

Do you think Obama might be dodging this subject?

Do you think a pardon could be used against Obama?

Or is this another case of leading from behind?

I really had a great time reading about Mr. Jack Johnson.

His antics in context...Were decades ahead of their time.

Well, I don't know if he is dodging it, or if maybe he just realizes that a pardon from a black president, might not mean as much, considering, he was thrown in jail, because he was a black man, married to a white woman.

It would be like Obama, making the official apology for Slavery in the US.... It just would not have the same, power to it..... So to speak.

I don't see how it could be used against Obama, unless there are those that would say he only pardoned him because he was black..... Do you think people would play a sort of reverse race card and say that Obama doesn't care about white people? I mean, that is not true, he does.... But if anyone tries to use this against him, that is the only thing I can really think of.

I really don't know. I think that maybe, some are thinking along the lines of, does it matter now days? Are there more important things to worry about? Which of course, there are, But that is not to say, it does not matter. We are talking about a man who was put in jail for marrying a white woman.... I think at the very least, an apology is called for.... A pardon would be nice to.

Thanks for the great replies...

I learned that "Civil Rights" did not start in the 60's.

This man did it his way.

reply to post by whyamIhere


Well, Civil rights for this country started on day 1. We have come a long ways, but at the same time, we still have a long ways to go... But even in this juts 90 years, we have come such a long way.