Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1878, to parents who had been enslaved. He fought his way up through the boxing world at a time when many white champions refused to fight Black challengers.
On December 26, 1908, in Sydney, Australia, Johnson beat Tommy Burns and became the first Black heavyweight champion of the world.
Many white Americans were furious. Newspapers and fans called for a "Great White Hope" to take the title back. Former champion Jim Jeffries came out of retirement, and on July 4, 1910, in Reno, Nevada, the two men met in what was billed as the "Fight of the Century." Johnson won. That night, white mobs attacked Black Americans in cities across the country.
Johnson lived openly and refused to bow to anyone. He also had relationships with, and married, white women, which enraged many white Americans. In 1913, an all-white jury convicted him under the Mann Act, a law against taking women across state lines for "immoral purposes." He fled the country and fought abroad for years. In 1920 he returned and served about ten months in federal prison at Leavenworth.
Jack Johnson died in a car crash in North Carolina in 1946.
On May 24, 2018, the President of the United States granted him a posthumous pardon for the 1913 conviction, after years of calls from his family, lawmakers and boxing fans.
Champion of the world. Convicted over who he loved. Pardoned 72 years too late.
