John McCain seeks pardon for Jack Johnson (And I don’t mean that crappy singer either)
John McCain seeks pardon for Jack Johnson (And I don’t mean that crappy singer either)
Click Here for The DVD” Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson A must have.
Click Here for The Book: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. A must Read.
Sen. John McCain said Wednesday he’s sure that President Barack Obama “will be more than eager” to pardon the late black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, who was sent to prison nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman.
In this corner – Jack Johnson
Appearing with three of Johnson’s family members and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., McCain unveiled a resolution urging a presidential pardon for Johnson, who was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes. The law has since been heavily amended, but has not been repealed.
McCain, R-Ariz., said he planned to speak to Obama about it, but added, “I think the last person I have to convince probably is President Obama.”
Miles Davis- A Tribute to Jack Johnson
“We need to erase this act of racism which sent an American citizen to prison on a trumped-up charge,” McCain said, adding, “I have great confidence this president will be more than eager to sign this legislation and pardon Jack Johnson.”
The White House declined to comment Wednesday. Obama was in London on Wednesday attending a summit on the global economic crisis.
Click Here for The DVD” Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson A must have.
Click Here for The Book: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. A must Read.
McCain and King — both of whom have done their share of boxing — are advocating the pardon along with filmmaker Ken Burns, whose 2005 documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” explored the case against Johnson and the sentencing judge’s admitted desire to “send a message” to black men about relationships with white women.
Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion on Dec. 26, 1908, 100 years before Obama became the first black president.
“It certainly would be a moment in history,” King said, “to have the first African-American president granting a pardon to the first African-American heavyweight champion.”
The resolution announced Wednesday seeks a pardon that acknowledges Johnson’s career and reputation were wronged “by a racially motivated conviction prompted by his success in the boxing ring and his relationship with white women.” Similar resolutions offered in 2004 and last year failed to pass both chambers of Congress.
Burns helped form the Committee to Pardon Jack Johnson, which filed a petition with the Justice Department in 2004 that was never acted on. He called Johnson “the greatest boxer of all time,” and said when Johnson proved unbeatable in the ring, “the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts.”
He called a pardon for Johnson “just a question of justice, which is not only blind, but color-blind,” adding, “I think it absolutely does not have anything to do with the symbolism of an African-American president pardoning an African-American unjustly accused.”
Johnson won the 1908 world heavyweight title after police in Australia stopped his 14-round match against the severely battered Canadian world champion, Tommy Burns. That led to a search for a “Great White Hope” who could beat Johnson. Two years later, Jim Jeffries, the American world titleholder Johnson had tried for years to fight, came out of retirement but lost in a match called “The Battle of the Century,” resulting in deadly riots.
Click Here for The DVD” Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson A must have.
Click Here for The Book: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. A must Read.
Authorities first targeted Johnson’s relationship with Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, but she refused to cooperate. They then found another white witness, Belle Schreiber, to testify against him. Johnson fled the country after his conviction, but agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence. He tried to renew his boxing career after leaving prison, but failed to regain his title. He died in a car crash in 1946 at age 68.
Big ups to John McCain for this.
Jack Johnson is one of the Original G’s: Brash, Cocky, Charismatic, Sharp Dresser, Didn’t give a Fuck and Swooped Mad Girls.
True Revolutionary.
If it wasn’t for G’s like Jack Johnson, there would be no Michael Mason.
Click Here for The DVD” Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson A must have.
Click Here for The Book: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. A must Read.
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
Jack Johnson Highlights
06/04/2009 at 1:36 pm Permalink
I guess McCain wants to make up for voting against MLK day. However this is symbolic at best. He should do something more substantial like supporting legislation that makes it harder for the criminal justice system to discriminate against innocent people based on race.
08/04/2009 at 6:57 pm Permalink
RJ,
Good point.
– MPM
15/07/2009 at 4:16 pm Permalink
Billiards, pool
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