Mr. President, today I am re-introducing a resolution calling on the President of the United States to posthumously pardon the world's first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, John Arthur…
Mr. President, today I am re-introducing a resolution calling on the President of the United States to posthumously pardon the world's first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, John Arthur ``Jack'' Johnson.
As you may remember, Representative Peter King and I introduced a similar bipartisan resolution during the last session of Congress, and it passed both chambers unanimously. I was very pleased that two of the resolution's strongest supporters were the Senate Majority Leader, my friend Senator Reid, and the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy. However, I am disappointed to say that the President still has not pardoned Mr. Johnson. Today, I call upon my Senate colleagues to once again pass this resolution and send a clear message to our President that this unacceptable historical injustice must be rectified.
For those who may not be familiar with the plight of Jack Johnson, he is considered by many to be the most dominant athlete in boxing history. John Arthur Johnson was born March 31, 1878, in Galveston, TX, to parents who were former slaves. At an early age he realized his talent for the sweet science. In order to make a living, Johnson traveled across the country fighting anyone willing to face him. But he was denied repeatedly, on purely racial grounds, a chance to fight for the world heavyweight title. For too long, African-American fighters were not seen as legitimate contenders for the championship. Fortunately, after years of perseverance, Johnson was finally granted an opportunity in 1908 to fight the then-reigning title holder, Tommy Burns. Johnson handily defeated Burns to become the first African- American heavyweight champion.
Mr. Johnson's success in the ring, and sometimes indulgent lifestyle outside of it, fostered resentment among many and raised concerns that his continued sporting dominance would somehow disrupt what was then perceived by many as a ``racial order.'' So, a search for a Caucasian boxer who could defeat Johnson began, a campaign dubbed as the search for the ``Great White Hope.'' That hope arrived in the person of a former champion, Jim Jeffries, who returned from retirement to fight Johnson in 1910. But when Johnson defeated Jeffries, race riots broke out as many sought to avenge the loss.
Following the defeat of the ``Great White Hope,'' the Federal government launched an investigation into the legality of Johnson's relationships with Caucasian women. The Mann Act, which was enacted in 1910, outlawed the transport of Caucasian women across State lines for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for ``any other immoral purpose.'' Using the ``any other immoral purpose'' clause as a pretext, federal law enforcement officials set out to ``get'' Johnson.
On October 18, 1912, he was arrested for transporting his Caucasian girlfriend across State lines in violation of the Act. However, the charges were dropped when the Caucasian, whose mother had originally tipped off Federal officials, refused to cooperate with authorities. She later married Johnson.
Yet Federal authorities persisted in their persecution of Johnson, persuading a former Caucasian girlfriend of Johnson's to testify that he had transported her across State lines. Her testimony resulted in Johnson's conviction in 1913. He was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in Federal prison. During Johnson's appeal, one prosecutor admitted that ``Mr. Johnson was perhaps persecuted as an individual, but that it was his misfortune to be the foremost example of the evil in permitting the intermarriage of whites and blacks.''
After the trial, Johnson fled the country to Canada, and then traveled to various European and South American countries, before losing his heavyweight championship title in Cuba in 1915. He returned to the United States in 1920, surrendered to Federal authorities, and served nearly a year in Federal prison. Despite this obvious and clear injustice, Johnson refused to turn his back on the country that betrayed him. Mr. Johnson died in an automobile accident in 1946.
The Jack Johnson case is an ignominious stain on our Nation's history. Rectifying this injustice is long overdue. Again, this resolution calls on the President to pardon Mr. Johnson posthumously. It recognizes the unjustness of what transpired, and sheds light on the achievements of an athlete who was forced into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice. Johnson was a flawed individual who was certainly controversial. But he was also a historic American figure, whose life and accomplishments played an instrumental role in our Nation's progress toward true equality under the law. And he deserved much better than a racially motivated conviction, which denied him of his liberty and served to diminish his athletic, cultural, and historic significance.
We are quickly coming up on the 65th anniversary of Jack Johnson's death, and we should take this opportunity to allow future generations to grasp what he accomplished against great odds and appreciate his contributions to society unencumbered by the taint of his criminal conviction. We know that we cannot possibly right the wrong that was done to Jack Johnson, but we can take this small step towards once again acknowledging his mistreatment and removing the cloud that casts a shadow on his legacy. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
