[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 19741-19742]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             JOHN ARTHUR ``JACK'' JOHNSON POSTHUMOUS PARDON

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of 
the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 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, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to object.
  While it is not my intention to object to the bill, I wanted to thank 
Representative Peter King for introducing this legislation in the 
House, and I was honored to join him as a cosponsor of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, Jack was the first African American to win the world 
heavyweight boxing championship and was a trailblazer. After defeating 
Tommy Burns and winning the world heavyweight boxing title in 1908, 
resentment grew as his wins continued and his flamboyant behavior 
unfairly earned him the disdain of many. In fact, it was his 
interracial relationships that led to his arrest on charges of 
violating the Mann Act's prohibition against ``transporting women 
across State lines for immoral purposes.''
  Mr. Speaker, I felt compelled to come back to this floor because one 
of the chief advocates of this legislation is the late Vernon Forrest 
who came to this Congress 3 years ago, met with Members of the Congress 
in the House, met with Senator McCain in the Senate, we had a press 
conference in the ``swamp'' to support this posthumous legislation on 
behalf of the late Jack Jackson. Vernon Forrest in Atlanta was shot 
this week 8 times in the back, and he will be memorialized, I believe, 
later this week or sometime this weekend.
  I wanted to say on behalf of a grateful Nation and grateful Congress 
to the Forrest family how grateful we were for his conscientiousness, 
for his willingness to fight for something bigger than himself, and for 
the extraordinary legacy that he has left us all.
  I want to thank the Judiciary Committee and Representative Peter King 
for their extraordinary leadership in bringing this very timely bill to 
the Congress. And, as Ken Burns states, Jack Johnson's story was 
``about freedom and one black man's insistence that he be able to live 
a life nothing short of a free man.''
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation and urge the immediate passage 
of S. Con. Res. 29.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            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.
  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of S. Con. 
Res. 29 (the companion bill to H. Con. Res. 91), a resolution granting 
a posthumous pardon to John Arthur ``Jack'' Johnson for his 1913 
racially motivated conviction. On April 1, 2009, I introduced my 
resolution with Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and I join today with my 
colleagues in urging the House to support this effort.
  Jack Johnson became the first black World Heavyweight Boxing Champion 
in 1908 after defeating Tommy Burns in Australia and kept the title 
until 1915. He was a flamboyant and controversial figure in American 
history who paved the way for African-American athletes to participate 
and succeed in racially integrated professional sports in the United 
States.
  Prompted by his success in the boxing ring and his relationship with 
a white woman, Jack Johnson was wronged by a racially motivated 
conviction under the Mann Act. He was convicted in 1913 after fleeing 
to Canada, Europe and South America and served one year in prison. 
Being convicted ruined his career and wrongly destroyed his reputation.
  Because of this, we believe the President should grant a posthumous 
pardon to Jack

[[Page 19742]]

Johnson to clear his name and recognize his athletic and cultural 
contributions to society. I am proud to have sponsored this resolution 
on his behalf.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.

  The concurrent resolution was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________