Presidential pardon sought for late boxing champ Jack Johnson

Jet, August 2, 2004

Jack Johnson fought hard to become the first Black heavyweight champion in 1908, only to face a 1913 conviction that changed his life.

Now, nearly a century later, filmmaker Ken Burns, after his research for a documentary on Johnson, has revealed that racism, not justice, sent the champion to jail. Burns is seeking a presidential pardon for the late boxer and has tremendous support from political leaders, boxing experts and civil rights leaders, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have joined forces with Burns and announced filing legal papers with the Justice Department. Other supporters include Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and boxer Vernon Forrest.

The petition argues Johnson's 1913 conviction under the Mann Act, a law passed three years earlier that banned the interstate transport of women for immoral purposes, unfairly punished him for a consensual relationship with a White woman.

Prosecutors moved against Johnson in 1912 by arresting him on the charge of abducting Lucille Cameron. He was indicted, but the government lost Cameron as a witness when she became the second White woman to marry Johnson, because a wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband.

The prosecution came up with a witness, Belle Schreiber, also White and a former mistress. Her testimony led to Johnson's conviction, and be served a 10-month sentence.

The petition recently filed contends the conviction was legally unfounded, invoking the Mann Act to invade the privacy of consenting adults.

"Pardoning Jack Johnson will serve as a historic testament of America's resolve to live up to its noble ideals of justice and equality," said McCain.

Johnson died in a traffic accident in 1946 at age 68.

Johnson became the first Black champion when he stopped Tommy Burns in Australia in 1908. Two years later he defeated challenger Jim Jeffries, who had come out of retirement as the "Great White Hope" to try to beat the Black man. Johnson's victory, in an era when Jim Crow laws and segregation ruled, sparked race riots.

Burns' documentary on Johnson, titled "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," will air in January 2005 on PBS.