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 his-
toric significance, and tarnished his reputation. 
Whereas John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ Johnson was a flamboyant, de-
fiant, 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; 
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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 Aus-
tralian 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 re-
cruitment 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 riot-
ing and aggression toward African Americans and led to 
racially motivated murders of African Americans nation-
wide; 
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; 
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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 com-
merce ‘‘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 dis-
approved of the relationship, claimed that Johnson had 
abducted her daughter, and sought action from the De-
partment of Justice; 
Whereas Jack Johnson was arrested by United States mar-
shals on October 18, 1912, for transporting Lucille Cam-
eron across State lines for an ‘‘immoral purpose’’ in vio-
lation of the Mann Act, but Cameron refused to cooper-
ate with authorities, the charges were dropped, and Cam-
eron later married the champion; 
Whereas Federal authorities continued to pursue Jack John-
son 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; 
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Whereas Jack Johnson fought boxing matches after his re-
lease 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 Box-
ing Hall of Fame: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) John Arthur ‘‘Jack’’ Johnson paved the 
way for African American athletes to participate and 
succeed in racially integrated professional sports in 
the United States; 
(2) Jack Johnson was wronged by a racially 
motivated conviction prompted by his success in the 
boxing ring and his relationships with White women; 
(3) the criminal conviction of Jack Johnson un-
justly ruined his career and destroyed his reputation; 
and 
(4) the President should grant a posthumous 
pardon to Jack Johnson to expunge from the annals 
of American criminal justice a racially motivated 
abuse of the prosecutorial authority of the Federal 
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Government, and to recognize Jack Johnson’s ath-
letic and cultural contributions to society. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 
2008. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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