When is it Time? – Pardoning Jack Johnson

“I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro.”

Every year thousands of convicted criminals and their families petition the president or their governor for a pardon or commutation of their sentences. Often they are for very small offenses. Florida’s government took a serious look at whether to pardon lead singer Jim Morrison for his public indecency crime. However, there is one individual who many people, namely US Senator John McCain, have lobbied to have his felony overturned so that he may clear his name.

Almost 100 years ago one of boxing and America’s most shameful displays of racism and bigotry took place in downtown Reno, Nevada. Jack Johnson and James J. Jefferies met on America’s birthday, July 4^th.  Unlike most boxing matches where the importance of the match revolved around the fight in the ring, Johnson and Jeffries were symbolic of the continuing racism and hatred that existed between the dominant White-America and the oppressed Black America.

Jack Johnson was a massive man in size, standing almost 6’ 2” tall, cocky and strong as a bull. Johnson was a pure fighter and one the original groundbreakers for African Americans in America having staked his claim to the heavyweight title after beating Tommy Burns in a fight that saw him mock his opponent by standing him up and beating him some more. On the other side of the ring stood James J. Jefferies, a white man and former champion who reportedly lost nearly 100 pounds to fight Johnson. Jefferies planned to shut Johnson up about his statements regarding his ability to have any white woman he wanted and the fact that Johnson’s wives were all white.

Johnson was on tear having defeated over fifty different opponents, both black and white while Jefferies had not fought in six years. While most multi-racial fights of this era encompassed some aspects of discrimination and racism, whether it was the segregation that was required by those in attendance as to where they sit or where they could use their restroom, this fight was the pinnacle of intentional racism. The fight, which was promoted AND refereed by Tex Rickard, took place outdoors under the baking Nevada sun, in a custom built ring in Reno. The fight was built as the “Fight of the Century” but in reality it was built to embarrass Johnson and as Jefferies stated to “prove (sic) that a white man is better than a Negro.”

To the chants of “Kill that Nigger” and the music of “All them coons look the same to me” Johnson destroyed Jefferies over the course of 14 rounds and in the 15^th, the dominant Johnson dropped Jefferies twice, the first time in Jefferies career he met the mat.  In order to prevent the “Great White Hope” from being defeated by knockout, Jefferies corner threw in the towel to force a loss by TKO corner stoppage.  Johnson would feel vindicated and would receive $225,000 for the fight, an astronomical amount for any fighter of the day but even more so for a Black fighter. While simply winning would be enough to put to rest the problems Johnson had, it was just the beginning.

Immediately following word and announcement on the radio that Jack Johnson had defeated James Jefferies by TKO in Reno, celebrations and riots erupted in the streets around the country. Blacks took to the street celebrating what they felt as a major strike to the white supremacy they lived under and whites took to the street to stop the “rioting”.  The riots were confirmed in 23 states and over 50 cities and 23 blacks and 2 whites died in the riots while several more lives were spared when police broke up numerous lynching attempts. All brought to a head by a boxing match.

The hostility that Johnson created would never leave him – unfortunately leading to one of the largest travesties of the American justice system. On October 18^th, 1913 Johnson was arrested for violating the Mann Act. The Mann Act stated that it was illegal for any person to transport a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. The woman in question would later become his wife, refused to cooperate with the police and Johnson was let go. Less than a month later Johnson was arrested on the same charges with his wife, and this time the police had the cooperation of a prostitute. The end result, an all-white jury convicted him and sentenced Johnson to 1 and ½ years in prison.  Johnson and his wife went on the run, refusing to give in to the unconstitutional attempt to punish Johnson and end his boxing career.  Over 7 years later, Johnson and his wife surrendered to authorities and served the 1 ½ year sentence in Leavenworth Maximum Security Prison. After proving that his incarceration was the outcome of racist motivation, congress approached former president George W. Bush in order to gain a presidential pardon. Although it passed in the House of Representatives it failed in the Senate and Johnson’s legacy remains tarnished by the conviction.

Then in February 2011, Senator John McCain reintroduced the possibility of pardoning Jack Johnson. Many people questioned why President Obama did not act on it previously.  To shine some light on the amount of shame that the continuation of the “Convicted Felon” label that Johnson must endure; take a look at some of the names that have been pardoned in the past century since Johnson’s conviction.

• Former President Richard Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate Scandal.
• The 6 members of the Iran/Contra incident that saw several members of President Ronald Reagan’s staff facilitate the sale of military arms to Iran who was under an arms embargo. They were pardoned by Reagan’s Vice President, President George Bush.
• Aslam P Adam had his sentence for Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, importation of heroin, and use of mail in committing felony commuted.
• William A. Borders Jr. was pardoned by President Clinton for Conspiracy to corruptly solicit and accept money in return for influencing the official acts of a federal district court judge (Alcee L. Hastings), and to defraud the United States in connection with the performance of lawful government functions; corruptly influencing, obstructing, impeding and endeavoring to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice, and aiding and abetting therein; traveling interstate with intent to commit bribery.
• Billionaire Mark Rich was pardoned by President Clinton for illegally making oil deals with Iran during the late 1970s-early 1980s Iran hostage crisis and tax evasion. Rich was one of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted for many years. He is currently one of the wealthiest men in America.
• Iva Toguri D’Aquino, known more commonly as the “Tokyo Rose” by Gerald Ford. She is the only person ever convicted of Treason in the United States to be pardoned.
• Patty Hearst, Billionaires daughter, convicted of bank robbery, which was caught by security cameras. Her sentence was commuted.

The list goes on and on. In the over 100 years since Jack Johnson was convicted and sentenced to prison, nearly 3,000 people have been pardon or had their sentences commuted. One would wonder in a country so hell-bent on doing the right thing in the eyes of justice, how being convicted based on your race takes a back seat to bank robbers, embezzlers, treason and conspiring to build armies of terrorist.

It is time for the President to stand up and sign the pardon. No longer can the last knockout of Jack Johnson come from an unjust courtroom and not in a ring. No longer can we justify this racist smear on the history of boxing. Contact your local representative and tell them that they must, MUST support the FULL pardon of Jack Johnson.