[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 125 (Wednesday, October 6, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10560-S10561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PARDONING ``JACK'' JOHNSON

 Mr. HATCH. Mr. President. I rise to express my support for S. 
Res. 447, which asks the President to pardon posthumously John Arthur 
"Jack" Johnson for Mr. Johnson's racially-motivated 1913 conviction.
  As a huge fan of the sport of boxing, I admire the great achievements 
of Mr. Johnson in his too short career. But I feel a greater need to 
recognize and pardon Mr. Johnson for the great injustice he suffered. 
Although it is too late to properly rectify what was done to Jack 
Johnson, I hope in some small way we can call attention to his 
remarkable achievements and repair his good name.
  Jack Johnson was the first African-American boxer to win the 
heavyweight title. While this was a landmark achievement for African-
Americans, Johnson's achievements unfortunately had the effect of 
escalating racial tensions and his subsequent victories provoked racial 
rioting. The effort to dethrone him brought about the search for the 
"Great White Hope" during his 1908-1915 reign as heavyweight champion.
  The consensus is that while Johnson was not defeated in the boxing 
ring he could be stopped by trumped-up criminal charges. In 1913, 
Johnson was found guilty of violating the "white-slavery" Mann Act for 
taking his future wife

[[Page S10561]]

out of State. Johnson was convicted and he tried to appeal his 
sentence. Before the ruling on his appeal, Johnson fled the country and 
was a fugitive for 7 years before he returned to the United States in 
1920. Johnson turned himself over to Federal authorities and served 10 
months in Ft. Leavenworth, KS.
  Mr. Johnson went on to continue fighting but never returned to the 
same glory. He was killed in a car accident in 1946 at the age of 68. 
Eight years later, he became a charter member of the Boxing Hall of 
Fame.
  I am hopeful that the President will accept this petition and issue a 
posthumous Presidential pardon for Jack Johnson. Mr. Johnson defied the 
racist standards of his day to become a world champion. He was a hero 
and example to a greatly oppressed people who had too few public heroes 
to look to emulate.

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