[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S6656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 29--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE 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

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

                            S. Con. Res. 29

       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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