Jack Johnson and The Great White Hope
by From Hero or Villain: More Prisoners of Eternity.
Jack Johnson, was the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World and white people hated him for it. He battered white men around the ring, he knocked them out, he dated white women, and he demanded recognition and respect for doing so. He got neither, instead he became the focus of villification and a subject worthy of the attention of the law.
The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship was the premier sporting title in the World, and in 1908, it was not allowed to be held by a black man. But the finest boxer in the world was a black man, Arthur John Johnson, called Jack, born in Texas, and known as the “Galveston Giant.”
There was no doubt that he was the finest boxer of his generation but this cut little ice with the white men who ran the sport. A black man had never fought for the Heavyweight Championship before, and it was a title that was held in such high esteem that the very idea of a black man holding it was to many unthinkable. So he had to wait a long time for his opportunity. James J Jeffries, the champion at the time refused to defend his title against him because he was black. But he was a difficult man to ignore, especially when he knocked out the previous champion, Bob Fitzsimmons, in just 2 rounds.
Johnson was to get his opportunity and it was all to be of his own making. James J Jeffries, the last recognised great champion, had retired four years earlier and his crown had been inherited by the Canadian Tommy Burns,who at only 5′8 was the smallest ever champion at that weight. Johnson, who knew no fear and was not in the least intimidated by his socially inferior status in crypto-aparthied America, followed Burns everywhere harassing him at every turn. name-calling and bad-mouthing him, until Burns agreed to put his title on the line. They finally fought in Sydney, Australia, on 26 December, 1908. It was an embarrassingly one-sided affair and was all over in 10 rounds with Burns taking a fearsome beating. The fight had been filmed and it provided a traumatic experience for the viewing white public, as the much larger Johnson seemed to hold Burns up so as to continue beating him, and appeared to mock and abuse his corner-men. The cameras were switched off before the end to save the public from witnessing Burns’s defeat.
The white population in America were outraged and dumbfounded. How could this happen? But then Burns was not a proper champion, he was too small, and he had never actually won the title. The cry went out for the white man to put the black man in his place. Even such a noted liberal as the novelist Jack London, asked where was The Great White Hope. But Johnson continued to beat his white opponents including the middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel, and the future actor Victor McLaglen.
Liked it
