Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1912-06-07
NO YELLOW STREAK IN
J. JOHNSON, SAY EXPERTS
DOPE ON PAST PERFORMANCES
FAILS TO SHOW ANY QUITTING
sLooD BUT IT MAY De SHOWN
ON JULY 4.

va
London. Several times the question
has been put to me. Has Johnson .
yellow streak"
There never was a colored boxer Of
note who escaped the suggestion oil
cowardice.
The colored race have for tens OF
centuries regarded the white man as
the ruling lord. Once get such an
idea into your head. and you will
surely find yourself battling against
great odds to dispel 1t. Indeed, 1t Is
next door to impossible to break
away from the fetish.
So with the black boxers. They are,
no matter how good. always fighting
against the odds. Even when they
are champions, they are fighting. not
only their opponents, but history.
Now, it's a pretty tall order for a
poor weak-minded Niger scrapper,
isn't it? Yes. I think so. The negro
has to fight the odds. This proves in
the long run impossible.
The prevailing idea Of the white
mans superiority Is the one great fac
tor that has broken so many champion
boxers. Dan Creedon was the man to
prove 1t against the Coffee Cooler
Crank Craig); Crib busted down
Tom Moleneaux after terrific night
about century ago; Frank Erne, Ter
ry McGovern and Battling Nelson all
broke through against Joe Cans and
made him a "has been" Joe Wolcott.
1.-The giant killer" was scared to death
of Tommy West and Kid Lavigne.
Dixon and all the others went the
same way.
Now, these men had all ben cham
pions. They had gone from victory to
victory without a halt. in some cases
going for years without suffering re-
verse. But in the end the tradition
OF the white mans superiority got
IL EN- and made them cutters. In
other words, they showed the
waite feather, or, as our friends in
tie states say, ''the yellow streak.
make a bold statement now. John
SIN is no gutter. don't believe there
ia the shadow Of yellow streak in
him. No prominent boxer has been
50 miscalled. No one has been more
victimized. He is like the cur at
whom everybody aims swift kick.
1t is q vogue, q fashion. Everybody
IL 30 unoriginal that he just initiates
hts neighbor. One paper sets the fash
ion and all the others follow suit.
But Johnson has done really mar
vellous things in the ring. Take bis
fight with Tommy Burns at Sydney.
Burns was champion OF the world.
australia is white mans country.
There they have no use for niggers.
Yet they turned out to a man to see
Eurns VS.. johnson.
OF course, they had an idea that
johnson would be licked, but when
Burns got his" they cheered johnson,
the new champion.
Johnson certainly took a chance in
fighting and beating the champion In
such an aggressively white country
az Australia. Jeffries was served
likewise. Many Of his ringsiders were
desperate whites, who would just as
soon pull a lead on niger as see
him beat white. Johnson is no fool.
He knew this; yet he faced the music.
Would you then stand by and hear
him called a coward? couldn't, and
more, won't. Give every man his
due Render unto Caesar" etc.
johnson is no gutter. He's as game
as was any white man, be he soldier.
sailor, or simply fighting machine
But will he never show the
streak? All, there you've got me.
That cannot foretell.
1t may be that one day he may find
himself hard up against it, and then
we'll, who knowss
He may then do exactly what his
fellow blacks have done.