Floor Statements
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FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN INTRODUCING RESOLUTION CALLING ON THE PRESIDENT TO POSTHUMOUSLY PARDON JACK JOHNSON
March 5, 2013
“Mr. President, today I rise to introduce Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 calling on the President to posthumously pardon the world’s first African-American heavyweight champion, John Arthur ‘Jack’ Johnson. I am proud to be joined in this effort by my friend Majority Leader Reid. This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should exercise his constitutional authority to pardon Jack Johnson posthumously. In a previous congress, this resolution passed both the House and Senate, but unfortunately, this issue still awaits executive action, so our effort continues.
“For my colleagues who may not be familiar with the story of the late Jack Johnson, he is considered by many to be the most dominant athlete in boxing history. Arthur John Johnson was born March 31, 1878, in Galveston, Texas, to parents who were former slaves. At an early age he realized his talent for the sweet science. In order to make a living, Johnson traveled across the country fighting anyone willing to face him. But he was denied repeatedly, on purely racial grounds, a chance to fight for the world heavyweight title. For too long, African-American fighters were not seen as legitimate contenders for the championship. Fortunately, after years of perseverance, Johnson was finally granted an opportunity in 1908 to fight the then-reigning title holder, Tommy Burns, in Sydney, Australia. Even though the fight lasted 14 rounds, Johnson handily defeated Burns to become the first African-American heavyweight champion.
“Mr. Johnson’s success in the ring, and sometimes indulgent lifestyle outside of it, fostered resentment among many and raised concerns that his continued dominance in the ring would somehow disrupt what was then perceived by many as a ‘racial order.’ So, as history tells us, a search for a Caucasian boxer who could defeat Johnson began. This recruitment effort became known as the search for the ‘Great White Hope.’ That ‘so-called hope’ arrived in the person of former champion, Jim Jeffries, who returned from retirement to fight Johnson in 1910. Johnson went on to defeat Jeffries, and as a shameful consequence, race riots broke out in several cities as many sought to avenge Jefferies’ defeat.
“Following the loss of the ‘Great White Hope,’ the Federal Government launched an investigation into the legality of Johnson's relationships with Caucasian women. At that time, the Mann Act, which was enacted in 1910, outlawed the transport of Caucasian women across State lines for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for ‘any other immoral purpose.’ Using the ‘any other immoral purpose’ clause as a pretext, Federal law enforcement officials set out to ‘get’ Johnson.
“On October 18, 1912, the Federal Government “got” their man. On that day Johnson was arrested for transporting his Caucasian girlfriend across state lines in violation of the Act. However, the charges were subsequently dropped when the Caucasian female, whose mother had originally tipped off Federal officials, refused to cooperate with authorities. She later married Johnson.
“Not to be outdone, the Federal authorities remained persistent in their determination to persecute Johnson, persuading a former scorned Caucasian girlfriend of Johnson's to testify that he had transported her across state lines. Her testimony resulted in Johnson's conviction in 1913, when he was sentenced to one year and a day in Federal prison. During Johnson's appeal, one prosecutor admitted that ‘Mr. Johnson was perhaps persecuted as an individual, but that it was his misfortune to be the foremost example of the evil in permitting the intermarriage of whites and blacks.’
“After the trial, Johnson fled the country to Canada, and then traveled to various European and South American countries, before losing his heavyweight championship title in Cuba in 1915. Ultimately overcome by homesickness, Jackson returned to the United States in 1920, surrendered to federal authorities, and served nearly a year in Federal prison. Despite this obvious and clear injustice, Johnson refused to turn his back on the country that betrayed him. Mr. Johnson died in an automobile accident in 1946 at the age of 68.
“Today, as we look back on our nation’s history, the Jack Johnson case is a shameful stain, apparent to all. Rectifying this injustice is long overdue. The resolution we introduced today calls on the President to pardon Mr. Johnson posthumously. It recognizes the injustice of what transpired, and sheds light on the achievements of an athlete who was forced into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice. Jack Johnson may have been a flawed individual, and he was certainly controversial during his day. But he was also a historic American figure, whose life and accomplishments played an instrumental role in our Nation’s development and progress toward true equality under the law.
“There is no doubt that Jack Johnson deserved much better than a racially motivated conviction, which denied him of his liberty, and served to diminish his athletic, cultural, and historic significance. As a body, we should pass this resolution and continue to fight for a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson to afford future generations the opportunity to grasp fully what Jack Johnson accomplished – against great odds – and appreciate his contributions to society unencumbered by the taint of an unjust, racially-motivated criminal conviction. Sadly, there is no way for us to possibly right the wrong that was done to Jack Johnson during his lifetime, but what we can do is take this small step toward acknowledging his mistreatment and remove the cloud that casts a shadow on his legacy. After all, that cloud over Jack Johnson’s legacy says more about our past wrongs than it could honestly ever say about Johnson’s own. As such, I urge my colleagues to support and for the Senate to swiftly pass Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 which request that the President grant Jack Johnson a posthumous pardon.”
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