Pardon for Boxing’s First Black Champ?

ABC News has a story about Jack Johnson, America’s fist African-American heavyweight champion, who was sentenced to prison nearly 100 years ago for having a relationship with a white woman. New York Representative Peter King and Arizona Senator John McCain are leading the campaign for a presidential posthumous pardon for Johnson. The two Republican politicians have yet to receive a response from President Obama, acknowledging, “I don’t want to sound critical because he (Obama) does have Afghanistan.”
Johnson was extremely controversial in his time for his dominance in the boxing ring paired with his public pursuance of white women. His dominance provoked the search for “The Great White Hope,” a white boxer that could defeat Johnson. In 1910, after seeking a fight for years, Johnson fought and won against James Jeffries, the white heavyweight champion sparking riots and violence throughout the country. After testimony from a former white lover, Johnson was sentenced to prison of the newly passed Mann Act, which made it unlawful to transport women across state lines.
The US Justice Department has refused to grant a posthumous pardon claiming that the already strained resources of the department would be better spent on people who could benefit from a pardon now. McCain believes that though the pardon may not be granted to Johnson soon, it will be granted eventually saying, “Even though it takes us way, way, way too long, are willing to do what we can to correct injustices that were committed on any of our citizens.”

Read the full article HERE.