III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 214 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Received 

OCTOBER 2 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should 

grant a posthumous pardon to John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ 

Johnson for the 1913 racially motivated conviction of 

Johnson, which diminished his athletic, cultural, and historic significance, and tarnished his reputation. 

Whereas John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ Johnson was a flamboyant, defiant, and controversial figure in American history who 

challenged racial biases; 

Whereas Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 

1878 to parents who were former slaves; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
2 

HCON 214 RFS 

Whereas Jack Johnson was a professional boxer who traveled 

throughout the United States and the world, fighting 

both Black and White heavyweight boxers; 

Whereas in 1908, after being denied the opportunity to fight 

two White boxing champions on purely racial grounds, 

Jack Johnson was granted an opportunity by an Australian promoter to fight Tommy Burns, the reigning 

world heavyweight champion; 

Whereas Jack Johnson defeated Burns to become the first 

African American to hold the title of world heavyweight 

champion; 

Whereas the victory of Jack Johnson over Burns prompted 

the search for a White boxer who could beat him, a recruitment effort dubbed the search for the ‘‘Great White 

Hope’’; 

Whereas in Reno, Nevada, in 1910, in what was referred to 

by many as the ‘‘Battle of the Century’’, a White former 

heavyweight champion named James ‘‘Jim’’ Jeffries 

came back from retirement to fight, and lose to, Jack 

Johnson; 

Whereas the defeat of Jeffries by Jack Johnson sparked rioting and aggression toward African Americans and led to 

racially motivated murders of African Americans nationwide; 

Whereas the resentment felt toward Jack Johnson by many 

Whites was compounded by his relationships with White 

women; 

Whereas between 1901 and 1910, 754 African Americans 

were lynched, some simply for being ‘‘too familiar’’ with 

White women; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
3 

HCON 214 RFS 

Whereas in 1910, Congress passed the White-slave traffic Act 

(commonly known as the ‘‘Mann Act’’), 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, Lucille Cameron, whose mother disapproved of the relationship, claimed that Johnson had 

abducted her daughter, and sought action from the Department of Justice; 

Whereas Jack Johnson was arrested by United States marshals on October 18, 1912, for transporting Lucille Cameron across State lines for an ‘‘immoral purpose’’ in violation of the Mann Act, but Cameron refused to cooperate with authorities, the charges were dropped, and Cameron later married the champion; 

Whereas Federal authorities continued to pursue Jack Johnson and summoned Belle Schreiber, a White woman, to 

testify that Johnson had transported her across State 

lines for the purposes of ‘‘prostitution and debauchery’’; 

Whereas in 1913, Jack Johnson was convicted of violating 

the Mann Act and was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day 

in Federal prison, but fled the country to Canada and 

then to 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 the authorities, and served nearly 

1 year in the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, 

Kansas; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
4 

HCON 214 RFS 

Whereas Jack Johnson fought boxing matches after his release from prison, but never regained the heavyweight 

championship title; 

Whereas Jack Johnson supported this Nation during World 

War II by encouraging citizens to buy war bonds and by 

participating in exhibition boxing matches to promote the 

sale of war bonds; 

Whereas Jack Johnson died in an automobile accident in 

1946; and 

Whereas in 1954, Jack Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ Johnson paved the 

4 way for African American athletes to participate and 

5 succeed in racially integrated professional sports in 

6 the United States; 

7 (2) Jack Johnson was wronged by a racially 

8 motivated conviction prompted by his success in the 

9 boxing ring and his relationships with White women; 

10 (3) the criminal conviction of Jack Johnson un11 justly ruined his career and destroyed his reputation; 

12 and 

13 (4) the President should grant a posthumous 

14 pardon to Jack Johnson to expunge from the annals 

15 of American criminal justice a racially motivated 

16 abuse of the prosecutorial authority of the Federal 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
5 

HCON 214 RFS 

1 Government, and to recognize Jack Johnson’s ath2 letic and cultural contributions to society. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 

2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS