[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 29 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 29

  Expressing the sense of Congress that John Arthur ``Jack'' Johnson 
     should receive a posthumous pardon for the racially motivated 
conviction in 1913 that diminished the athletic, cultural, and historic 
   significance of Jack Johnson and unduly tarnished his reputation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 16, 2009

 Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Brownback) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that John Arthur ``Jack'' Johnson 
     should receive a posthumous pardon for the racially motivated 
conviction in 1913 that diminished the athletic, cultural, and historic 
   significance of Jack Johnson and unduly tarnished his reputation.

Whereas John Arthur ``Jack'' Johnson was a flamboyant, defiant, and 
        controversial figure in the history of the United States who challenged 
        racial biases;
Whereas Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1878 to parents who were 
        former slaves;
Whereas Jack Johnson became a professional boxer and traveled throughout the 
        United States, fighting White and African-American heavyweights;
Whereas, after being denied (on purely racial grounds) the opportunity to fight 
        2 White champions, in 1908, Jack Johnson was granted an opportunity by 
        an Australian promoter to fight the reigning White title-holder, Tommy 
        Burns;
Whereas Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to become the first African-American 
        to hold the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World;
Whereas, the victory by Jack Johnson over Tommy Burns prompted a search for a 
        White boxer who could beat Jack Johnson, a recruitment effort that was 
        dubbed the search for the ``great white hope'';
Whereas, in 1910, a White former champion named Jim Jeffries left retirement to 
        fight Jack Johnson in Reno, Nevada;
Whereas Jim Jeffries lost to Jack Johnson in what was deemed the ``Battle of the 
        Century'';
Whereas the defeat of Jim Jeffries by Jack Johnson led to rioting, aggression 
        against African-Americans, and the racially motivated murder of African-
        Americans nationwide;
Whereas the relationships of Jack Johnson with White women compounded the 
        resentment felt toward him by many Whites;
Whereas, between 1901 and 1910, 754 African-Americans were lynched, some for 
        simply for being ``too familiar'' with White women;
Whereas, in 1910, Congress passed the Act of June 25, 1910 (commonly known as 
        the ``White Slave Traffic Act'' or the ``Mann Act'') (18 U.S.C. 2421 et 
        seq.), which outlawed the transportation of women in interstate or 
        foreign commerce ``for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for 
        any other immoral purpose'';
Whereas, in October 1912, Jack Johnson became involved with a White woman whose 
        mother disapproved of their relationship and sought action from the 
        Department of Justice, claiming that Jack Johnson had abducted her 
        daughter;
Whereas Jack Johnson was arrested by Federal marshals on October 18, 1912, for 
        transporting the woman across State lines for an ``immoral purpose'' in 
        violation of the Mann Act;
Whereas the Mann Act charges against Jack Johnson were dropped when the woman 
        refused to cooperate with Federal authorities, and then married Jack 
        Johnson;
Whereas Federal authorities persisted and summoned a White woman named Belle 
        Schreiber, who testified that Jack Johnson had transported her across 
        State lines for the purpose of ``prostitution and debauchery'';
Whereas, in 1913, Jack Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act and 
        sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in Federal prison;
Whereas Jack Johnson fled the United States to Canada and various European and 
        South American countries;
Whereas Jack Johnson lost the Heavyweight Championship title to Jess Willard in 
        Cuba in 1915;
Whereas Jack Johnson returned to the United States in July 1920, surrendered to 
        authorities, and served nearly a year in the Federal penitentiary at 
        Leavenworth, Kansas;
Whereas Jack Johnson subsequently fought in boxing matches, but never regained 
        the Heavyweight Championship title;
Whereas Jack Johnson served his country during World War II by encouraging 
        citizens to buy war bonds and participating in exhibition boxing matches 
        to promote the war bond cause;
Whereas Jack Johnson died in an automobile accident in 1946; and
Whereas, in 1954, Jack Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that Jack Johnson should receive a 
posthumous pardon--
            (1) to expunge a racially motivated abuse of the 
        prosecutorial authority of the Federal Government from the 
        annals of criminal justice in the United States; and
            (2) in recognition of the athletic and cultural 
        contributions of Jack Johnson to society.
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