Jack Johnson

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]


[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]

[S. Con. Res. 5 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]



113th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. CON. RES. 5



_______________________________________________________________________



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION



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;

Whereas, in 1954, Jack Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame; and

Whereas, on July 29, 2009, the 111th Congress agreed to Senate Concurrent

Resolution 29, which expressed the sense of the 111th Congress that Jack

Johnson should receive a posthumous pardon for his racially motivated

1913 conviction: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),

That it remains 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.



Passed the Senate April 17, 2013.



Attest:



Secretary.

113th CONGRESS



1st Session



S. CON. RES. 5



_______________________________________________________________________



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION



Expressing the sense of 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