Jack Johnson

Saw a fabulous documentary on PBS last night about a boxing match that took place on July 4, 1910 between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries. (I think I got the names right - I remember they're all J's.) I didn't catch the whole story - only the last twenty minutes or so. Johnson was black and Jeffries was white. The whole nation was waiting to see who would win. Johnson won. Jeffries had been undefeated until then, but he was in really bad shape at the end. The crowd, which was all white, started yelling, "Don't let the nigger knock him out," so they ended the match before that could happen and declared Johnson the winner. Afterwards there were riots and killings and everything over it, all over the country. They showed some newspaper clippings from various towns that said things like, "12 blacks ran amuck, until police rescued them". On a train a black man was talking about the fight and a white man slit his throat, killing him. There were stabbings and beatings. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times warned the black community that the fight had not changed their complexion and nothing had changed. You are not any better just because of a boxing match.

I hate the fact that we are always looking for some way to subjugate one another.

I am proud of Johnson. I am not black, but I am proud of him as one human being can be of another human being. He conducted himself well and he fought for a cause that was larger than himself. After the fight Jeffries admitted that even in his prime he had never been as good as Johnson. With his prize winnings Johnson bought a house and moved in on July 7. That night, a white man with a rifle attempted to break in and kill him, but the police stopped him. That was only the beginning of Johnson's troubles. That's about all I remember of the documentary.