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Too black, too strong
Dubious federal conviction sparks
drive to clear Jack Johnson's name
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/sports2.html
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thecharlottepost.com
Jack Johnson was ahead of his time.
Jack Johnson held the heavyweight championship from 1908-15.
.
Before Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, Johnson was a catalyst for athletic and social upheaval. He was the first African American heavyweight boxing champion (1908-15) and ran afoul of the law when he crossed the sexual color barrier.
Johnson, who died in Raleigh in a 1946 traffic accident at age 68, was convicted in 1912 for violating the federal Mann Act when he crossed state lines with his white fiancee. Rather than face prison time, Johnson fled the U.S., but returned in 1920 to serve his sentence.
Filmmaker Ken Burns, who produced "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," said government prosecutors made an example of Johnson to keep African Americans subservient.
"During the course of producing the film, we became more and more outraged over the overt racism heaped on Jack Johnson," Burns said. "Only because he was black did this happen to him."
Johnson was nothing like the compliant Negro Americans expected, whichmade him a target of scorn.
"Jack Johnson was one of the original superstars," Burns said. "He was the original gangsta. If you look at pictures of him, he looks modern. It looks like he's been Photoshopped into 2004 when the people around him look dated."
Burns is involved in a growing movement seeking a presidential pardon for Johnson. A U.S. Senate resolution authored by John McCain (R- Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) has passed that chamber. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) have a similar resolution pending in the House. If President Bush were to pardon Johnson, it would be the second in U.S. history. In 1998, former president Bill Clinton pardoned Henry O. Flipper, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, after a court-martial conviction.
"Although it doesn't help Jack Johnson, it helps the rest of us," said Burns, who directed the critically-acclaimed documentaries "Baseball," "The Civil War" and "Jazz." "By pardoning him, it sheds light on part of America's past that some of us would just as soon forget."
Johnson, a Texas native, may have a friend in the White House. While Bush was Texas governor, he signed proclamations for Jack Johnson Day five times.
"Unforgivable Blackness," which premieres Jan. 17-18 on PBS, takes an unflinching look at America's racial attitudes at the time.
"This is a story we were drawn to," Burns said. "Not the least, it is a story of athletic achievement. We've also chosen to focus the question of race ??? the subtheme of American life. It's also about sex. We live in a country that is purient and puritan. In the end this is a complicated story of freedom."
Black heavyweights were locked out of championship contention until 1938 when Joe Louis captured the title. Louis and Ali also left an indelible impact on sport and society, but in different ways.
"Certainly you could focus on Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali," Burns said. "Joe Louis was the anti-Johnson. Everything about Jack Johnson's life, Joe Louis did the opposite. He agreed not to be photographed smiling when he beat white fighters; he agreed not to be photographed hanging out at nightclubs.
"Ali is very similar. Jack Johnson was the first of the great defensive fighters, and Ali studied films of him. Ali also was a polarizing figure."
On the Net:
Dubious federal conviction sparks
drive to clear Jack Johnson's name
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/sports2.html
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thecharlottepost.com
Jack Johnson was ahead of his time.
Jack Johnson held the heavyweight championship from 1908-15.
.
Before Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, Johnson was a catalyst for athletic and social upheaval. He was the first African American heavyweight boxing champion (1908-15) and ran afoul of the law when he crossed the sexual color barrier.
Johnson, who died in Raleigh in a 1946 traffic accident at age 68, was convicted in 1912 for violating the federal Mann Act when he crossed state lines with his white fiancee. Rather than face prison time, Johnson fled the U.S., but returned in 1920 to serve his sentence.
Filmmaker Ken Burns, who produced "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," said government prosecutors made an example of Johnson to keep African Americans subservient.
"During the course of producing the film, we became more and more outraged over the overt racism heaped on Jack Johnson," Burns said. "Only because he was black did this happen to him."
Johnson was nothing like the compliant Negro Americans expected, whichmade him a target of scorn.
"Jack Johnson was one of the original superstars," Burns said. "He was the original gangsta. If you look at pictures of him, he looks modern. It looks like he's been Photoshopped into 2004 when the people around him look dated."
Burns is involved in a growing movement seeking a presidential pardon for Johnson. A U.S. Senate resolution authored by John McCain (R- Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) has passed that chamber. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) have a similar resolution pending in the House. If President Bush were to pardon Johnson, it would be the second in U.S. history. In 1998, former president Bill Clinton pardoned Henry O. Flipper, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, after a court-martial conviction.
"Although it doesn't help Jack Johnson, it helps the rest of us," said Burns, who directed the critically-acclaimed documentaries "Baseball," "The Civil War" and "Jazz." "By pardoning him, it sheds light on part of America's past that some of us would just as soon forget."
Johnson, a Texas native, may have a friend in the White House. While Bush was Texas governor, he signed proclamations for Jack Johnson Day five times.
"Unforgivable Blackness," which premieres Jan. 17-18 on PBS, takes an unflinching look at America's racial attitudes at the time.
"This is a story we were drawn to," Burns said. "Not the least, it is a story of athletic achievement. We've also chosen to focus the question of race ??? the subtheme of American life. It's also about sex. We live in a country that is purient and puritan. In the end this is a complicated story of freedom."
Black heavyweights were locked out of championship contention until 1938 when Joe Louis captured the title. Louis and Ali also left an indelible impact on sport and society, but in different ways.
"Certainly you could focus on Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali," Burns said. "Joe Louis was the anti-Johnson. Everything about Jack Johnson's life, Joe Louis did the opposite. He agreed not to be photographed smiling when he beat white fighters; he agreed not to be photographed hanging out at nightclubs.
"Ali is very similar. Jack Johnson was the first of the great defensive fighters, and Ali studied films of him. Ali also was a polarizing figure."
On the Net:
