WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain said Wednesday he's sure that President Barack Obama "will be more than eager" to pardon the late black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, who was sent to prison nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman.
Appearing with three of Johnson's family members and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., McCain unveiled a resolution urging a presidential pardon for Johnson, who was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes. The law has since been heavily amended, but has not been repealed.
McCain, R-Ariz., said he planned to speak to Obama about it, but added, "I think the last person I have to convince probably is President Obama."
"We need to erase this act of racism which sent an American citizen to prison on a trumped-up charge," McCain said, adding, "I have great confidence this president will be more than eager to sign this legislation and pardon Jack Johnson."
The White House declined to comment Wednesday. Obama was in London on Wednesday attending a summit on the global economic crisis.
McCain and King — both of whom have done their share of boxing — are advocating the pardon along with filmmaker Ken Burns, whose 2005 documentary, "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," explored the case against Johnson and the sentencing judge's admitted desire to "send a message" to black men about relationships with white women.
Johnson's great-niece, Dorothy Cross, and her daughters, Linda Haywood and Constance Hines, all of Chicago, were in town to support McCain's effort.
Haywood, 53, said Johnson's family considered his conviction "racially motivated, and we knew the type of man that he was."
"He simply lived his life, and he didn't have to explain how he lived his life," Haywood said.
Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion on Dec. 26, 1908, 100 years before Obama became the first black president.
"It certainly would be a moment in history," King said, "to have the first African-American president granting a pardon to the first African-American heavyweight champion."
The resolution announced Wednesday seeks a pardon that acknowledges Johnson's career and reputation were wronged "by a racially motivated conviction prompted by his success in the boxing ring and his relationship with white women." Similar resolutions offered in 2004 and last year failed to pass both chambers of Congress.
Burns helped form the Committee to Pardon Jack Johnson, which filed a petition with the Justice Department in 2004 that was never acted on. He called Johnson "the greatest boxer of all time," and said when Johnson proved unbeatable in the ring, "the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts."
He called a pardon for Johnson "just a question of justice, which is not only blind, but color-blind," adding, "I think it absolutely does not have anything to do with the symbolism of an African-American president pardoning an African-American unjustly accused."
Johnson won the 1908 world heavyweight title after police in Australia stopped his 14-round match against the severely battered Canadian world champion, Tommy Burns. That led to a search for a "Great White Hope" who could beat Johnson. Two years later, Jim Jeffries, the American world titleholder Johnson had tried for years to fight, came out of retirement but lost in a match called "The Battle of the Century," resulting in deadly riots.
Authorities first targeted Johnson's relationship with Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, but she refused to cooperate. They then found another white witness, Belle Schreiber, to testify against him. Johnson fled the country after his conviction, but agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence. He tried to renew his boxing career after leaving prison, but failed to regain his title. He died in a car crash in 1946 at age 68.
Presidential pardons for the dead are rare.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton pardoned Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the Army's first black commissioned officer, who was drummed out of the military in 1882 after white officers accused him of embezzling $3,800 in commissary funds. Last year, President George W. Bush pardoned Charles Winters, who was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act when he conspired in 1948 to export aircraft to a foreign country in aid of Israel.
Ok I'm gonna touch this. Why couldn't he bring this ish up when Reagan, Daddy Bush and Muck up Bush were in office. I am sooooooo upset over this. I guess it takes a black man to pardon a black man and erase the bigotry of this nation.
Wednesday, April 1st 2009 at 9:42PM
crystal smith
Crystal, I can understand your frustrations girl. I feel the same way. It's sad, but it (this issue) is what it is. Try and look at this issue from a positive point of view though. Although I do see your point, who better to understand this issue than President Obama, the product of an interracial union? It's sad that it is come to this moment in our nation's history and that past presidents have thought so little of this injustice. Regardless to whether it's President Obama or another black president, we both can certainly agree that the pardon needs to be granted.
Wednesday, April 1st 2009 at 10:58PM
Jen Fad
Maybe one day Dora. But the first step is being honest about not only our past but also the present and understanding that little things make a difference. If we can have a sincere discussion without all the drama, fingerpointing and accusations we may resolve some issues.
I remember as a child I had a friend whose parents were racist. Her father hated black men and would tolerate black women, however he did not talk to them nor do business with them. I was one of the few blacks at my school (thanks to busing). One day we were playing on the playground and one of my friends introduced us. That was all it took. We immediately connected. As our friendship grew she advised me of her parents. She was ashamed but felt that I needed to know. I didn't think anything of it. As time went on her mother warmed to me and allowed me to come to there house. Because of her fathers intolerance I had to come over only when he wasn't there. This didn't bother me but it bothered my mother and black friends. I was more interested in my friendship than her parents and she didn't follow her parents examples so I didn't listen to others. She was a very caring and thoughtful person who loved all people. We never saw color and she never understood her parents prejudices. Anywho one day her dad came home from work early and caught me at their house. He knew we had been friends for a couple of years so he didn't say anything. It took three to four years before he said one word to me. But it didn't matter to me. After the initial word we went to watching tv from there to an outing and finally I got a whole conversation. After that he accepted black people. He later told me that his fear was the fear of his parent's. He wasn't as strong as his daughter at bucking against his parent's authority. So he held onto prejudices he didn't fully understand. He thanked me for exposing them and helping him get over them. This experience, much later, taught me so much about the human capacity to change and also just how bliss ignorance is and thank God that I was so ignorant and not easily persuaded to give in to the advise of others.
I know that America can get there just like he did but it will take time and honest effort on both parts.
Friday, April 3rd 2009 at 1:38AM
crystal smith
