•HCON 52 IH 
Whereas after being denied (on purely racial grounds) the op-
portunity 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 to hold the title of Heavyweight 
Champion of the World; 
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 nation-
wide; 
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 out-
lawed the transportation of women in interstate or for-
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•HCON 52 IH 
eign commerce ‘‘for the purpose of prostitution or de-
bauchery, 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 Mann Act charges against Jack Johnson were 
dropped when the woman refused to cooperate with Fed-
eral 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 Fed-
eral 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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•HCON 52 IH 
Whereas Jack Johnson subsequently fought in boxing 
matches, but never regained the Heavyweight Champion-
ship title; 
Whereas Jack Johnson served his country during World War 
II by encouraging citizens to buy war bonds and partici-
pating 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 Box-
ing 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 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it remains the sense of Congress that 
Jack Johnson should receive a posthumous pardon— 
(1) to expunge a racially motivated abuse of the 
prosecutorial authority of the Federal Government 
from the annals of criminal justice in the United 
States; and 
(2) in recognition of the athletic and cultural 
contributions of Jack Johnson to society. 
Æ 
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