III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 71 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ Johnson should 

receive a posthumous pardon for the racially motivated conviction in 

1913 that diminished the athletic, cultural, and historic significance 

of Jack Johnson and unduly tarnished his reputation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2017 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ 

Johnson should receive a posthumous pardon for the 

racially motivated conviction in 1913 that diminished 

the athletic, cultural, and historic significance of Jack 

Johnson and unduly tarnished his reputation. 

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

United States who challenged racial biases; 

Whereas Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 

1878 to parents who were former slaves; 

Whereas Jack Johnson became a professional boxer and traveled throughout the United States, fighting White and 

African-American heavyweights; 


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•SRES 71 IS 

Whereas, after being denied (on purely racial grounds) the 

opportunity to fight 2 White champions, in 1908, Jack 

Johnson was granted an opportunity by an Australian 

promoter to fight the reigning White title-holder, Tommy 

Burns; 

Whereas Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to become the 

first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion; 

Whereas the victory by Jack Johnson over Tommy Burns 

prompted a search for a White boxer who could beat 

Jack Johnson, a recruitment effort that was dubbed the 

search for the ‘‘great white hope’’; 

Whereas, in 1910, a White former champion named Jim 

Jeffries left retirement to fight Jack Johnson in Reno, 

Nevada; 

Whereas Jim Jeffries lost to Jack Johnson in what was 

deemed the ‘‘Battle of the Century’’; 

Whereas the defeat of Jim Jeffries by Jack Johnson led to 

rioting, aggression against African-Americans, and the 

racially motivated murder of African-Americans throughout the United States; 

Whereas the relationships of Jack Johnson with White 

women compounded the resentment felt toward him by 

many Whites; 

Whereas, between 1901 and 1910, 754 African-Americans 

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

with White women; 

Whereas, in 1910, Congress passed the Act of June 25, 1910 

(commonly known as the ‘‘White Slave Traffic Act’’ or 

the ‘‘Mann Act’’) (18 U.S.C. 2421 et seq.), which outlawed the transportation of women in interstate or forVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Mar 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR71.IS SR71

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•SRES 71 IS 

eign 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 whose mother disapproved of their 

relationship and sought action from the Department of 

Justice, claiming that Jack Johnson had abducted her 

daughter; 

Whereas Jack Johnson was arrested by Federal marshals on 

October 18, 1912, for transporting the woman across 

State lines for an ‘‘immoral purpose’’ in violation of the 

Mann Act; 

Whereas the charges against Jack Johnson under the Mann 

Act were dropped when the woman refused to cooperate 

with Federal authorities and then married Jack Johnson; 

Whereas Federal authorities persisted and summoned a 

White woman named Belle Schreiber, who testified that 

Jack Johnson had transported her across State lines for 

the purpose of ‘‘prostitution and debauchery’’; 

Whereas, in 1913, Jack Johnson was convicted of violating 

the Mann Act and sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in Federal prison; 

Whereas Jack Johnson fled the United States to Canada and 

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 authorities, and served nearly a 

year in the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas; 


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•SRES 71 IS 

Whereas Jack Johnson subsequently fought in boxing 

matches, but never regained the heavyweight championship title; 

Whereas Jack Johnson served the United States during 

World War II by encouraging citizens to buy war bonds 

and participating in exhibition boxing matches to promote the war bond cause; 

Whereas Jack Johnson died in an automobile accident in 

1946; 

Whereas, in 1954, Jack Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame; and 

Whereas, on July 29, 2009, the 111th Congress agreed to 

Senate Concurrent Resolution 29, which expressed the 

sense of the 111th Congress that Jack Johnson should 

receive a posthumous pardon for his racially motivated 

1913 conviction: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it remains the sense of the Senate that 

2 Jack Johnson should receive a posthumous pardon— 

3 (1) to expunge a racially motivated abuse of the 

4 prosecutorial authority of the Federal Government 

5 from the annals of criminal justice in the United 

6 States; and 

7 (2) in recognition of the athletic and cultural 

8 contributions of Jack Johnson to society. 

Æ 


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