My husband is a boxing fan. Consequently, I’m familiar with Jack Johnson.  He certainly was ahead of his time. Back in the early 1900’s he was wearing mink coats and openly courting white women.  He eventually had to leave the country because he was charged with bringing a white woman across state lines for “illicit and immoral” purposes:

The White House refused to indicate Monday whether President Obama will issue a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson, the African-American boxing champion convicted in 1913 for dating a white woman.

The House of Representatives on July 29 unanimously passed a resolution urging Obama to grant a pardon; the Senate passed a similar measure by a voice vote on June 24.

The push for a rare posthumous pardon has been spearheaded for years by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Rep. Peter King, R-New York, two of Congress’ top boxing enthusiasts.

“It is our hope that you will be eager to agree to right this wrong and erase an act of racism that sent an American citizen to prison,” they wrote Friday in a letter to Obama.

Johnson, the first African-American to win the heavyweight title, was convicted for violating the Mann Act, which outlawed the transportation of women across state lines for “immoral” purposes.

He served 10 months in prison on charges “brought forward clearly to keep him away from the boxing ring, where he continued to defeat his white opponents,” McCain and King said.

“Rectifying this injustice is long overdue. [The resolution recognizes] the unjustness of what transpired, and sheds light on the achievements of an athlete who was forced into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice.”

Two thumbs up to John McCain for staying on top of this.

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