Louisville Courier Journal: Time For A Pardon.
Time for a pardon
There's a new effort to win a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the legendary boxer who was unjustly convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act -- the law that prohibits transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes.
Johnson served time in prison, but his conviction "was motivated by nothing more than the color of his skin," according to pardon supporter Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Presidential pardons are provided for in the U.S. Constitution. As for Jack Johnson, his "crime" was that he openly dated white women, and married three of them. Moreover, he was such a superb pugilist that a call went out among certain elements for a "Great White Hope" to defeat him.
Ken Burns (whose 2005 documentary, "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," renewed interest in the boxer's life) and others hoped that President George W. Bush would approve a pardon. They had reason to be optimistic because for five years running, when he was Texas governor, Mr. Bush proclaimed a Jack Johnson Day in the boxer's home state.
A pardon nearly 100 years after the fact is not, as some may believe, too late, even though Johnson is long since dead.
Some ask, "What's the point in ripping the scab off an old wound?"
The answer is that an injustice is still an injustice, no matter how much time has passed. Moreover, the nation's path forward is infinitely easier to travel when government is secure enough that it can admit to, learn from and apologize for old horrors that caused needless suffering.
We hope President Obama will finally give Jack Johnson's legacy and his relatives the peace and the justice for which they have waited.
There's a new effort to win a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the legendary boxer who was unjustly convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act -- the law that prohibits transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes.
Johnson served time in prison, but his conviction "was motivated by nothing more than the color of his skin," according to pardon supporter Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Presidential pardons are provided for in the U.S. Constitution. As for Jack Johnson, his "crime" was that he openly dated white women, and married three of them. Moreover, he was such a superb pugilist that a call went out among certain elements for a "Great White Hope" to defeat him.
Ken Burns (whose 2005 documentary, "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," renewed interest in the boxer's life) and others hoped that President George W. Bush would approve a pardon. They had reason to be optimistic because for five years running, when he was Texas governor, Mr. Bush proclaimed a Jack Johnson Day in the boxer's home state.
A pardon nearly 100 years after the fact is not, as some may believe, too late, even though Johnson is long since dead.
Some ask, "What's the point in ripping the scab off an old wound?"
The answer is that an injustice is still an injustice, no matter how much time has passed. Moreover, the nation's path forward is infinitely easier to travel when government is secure enough that it can admit to, learn from and apologize for old horrors that caused needless suffering.
We hope President Obama will finally give Jack Johnson's legacy and his relatives the peace and the justice for which they have waited.
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 10:09 AM
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