Updated Friday, February 2, 2024 at 7:30 PM.
“I don’t know what he had…who talked to him. I’m bold, but he was crazy.”~ Muhammad Ali
In the PBS movie, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, one learns about another G.O.A.T. who many say was just as great if not out-performed Muhammad Ali. His name is Jack Johnson. Johnson, the boxer and not the hockey player, was one of 6 children born in Galveston, TX.
When he was 12 years old, Johnson left Galveston to travel to New York City to meet his idol before returning home. It was in Galveston that Johnson developed into a great boxer. Boxing led Johnson to travel to demonstrate his ability and calm his restless nature. It also led Johnson to lead an amoral lifestyle (aka become a “sport”) and his defeat of Jim Jeffries. It took more than 10 years for Jeffries, the undefeated heavyweight champion, to agree to fight Jack Johnson.
Jim Jeffries was the great hope for White society and its belief that Blacks were inferior to Whites. When Johnson defeated Jeffries, it led to race riots throughout the United States. Riots similar to the ones in 2020 were seen in Chicago, Columbus, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York City, New Orleans, and so many more after Johnson’s victory. Johnson’s victory was not just a victory for himself but for Black society and sore disillusionment for White society.
This was the rise of Jack Johnson and the beginning of the fall of Johnson as well.
“They say I’m controversial and they say I’m bold, but I wasn’t nothing like Jack Johnson. They had lynchings and rapings and burnings and every time he’d fight they’d lynch Negroes and burn houses. This man was told if you beat this white man we’re going to shoot you from the audience. He said well just shoot my black so-and-so because I’m a knock him out.”~Muhammad Ali
“They say I’m controversial and they say I’m bold, but I wasn’t nothing like Jack Johnson. They had lynchings and rapings and burnings and every time he’d fight they’d lynch Negroes and burn houses. This man was told if you beat this white man we’re going to shoot you from the audience. He said well just shoot my black so-and-so because I’m a knock him out.”~Muhammad Ali
Original Fight of the Century: Jeffries vs. Johnson
Source: joe56984
To view the PBS documentary Unforgivable Blackness directed by Ken Burns, you can watch the 2 part movie below. Settle in with popcorn and a drink for this 3+ hour documentary detailing Jack Johnson’s journey to show the world a Black man is a man.
Both videos are courtesy of PBS via William Howard-Lawrence.
Part I
Part II