Jeffries got what he deserved ...

Like Klompton said, both points ignore the fact that Johnson had no equivalent amongst the other top black boxers of his time which were not just a handful. That was one the most talent ladened generations of black boxers of all time. They were exposed to the same indignities as Johnson. You're gonna assume all of them were docile? How does a brutal upbringing (since you're assuming Johnson had one) would manage to make them docile? Bear in mind many of them had no problems facing opponents several weight division above their own (Blackburn, Holly, Walcott, Langford, Gans, all of them did it) and some of them were no strange to violence outside the ring. Blackburn for example was a convicted murderer.

And if he was indeed shaped by an oppressive environment, were does that leave the victims of his behavior? Should they just suck it up and accept he was committed because of his upbringing and as such he didn't know better? JJ deserves a fair shake but the women he abused do not? What about the black boxers who lived under similar circumstances as JJ who had their chances denied for more than a decade? Should they accept that too? You're questioning our
judgement for lack of perspective while ignoring the fact that people who had both the perspective and the right to judge his actions already stated their opinions.

Is there any black boxer of his time who actually defended Johnson's actions? (Not calling BS. This is a real question.)

 

imo, Johnson had a bullseye on hm because he was the heavyweight champion.

 

Is there a black boxer of his time who came out and said categorically his conduct was detrimental to the rest of them?

 

Could be. He already had a reputation before he was champion though. Also a personality like his would be hard to ignore regardless of what he did in life I believe. He clearly loved a spectacle.

 

sry. English is not my first language.

 

Um, many promoters said it was hard for blacks to get a title shot because of Johnson.

Jeanette said Johnson drew the color line against his own people.

And Joe Louis had a set of rules he had to follow thanks to Jack Johnson.

 

No they didn't, they said two blacks fighting for the title wouldn't draw flies!
Jeannette, never had a good word to say about Johnson.
He accused him of deliberately fouling him.
He said he weighed 165lbs for their last fight both were blatant lies.
He said Jeffries would kill him in the most ludicrously hyperbolical terms and he got that totally wrong too!
Johnson owed him nothing.
The idea that Jeannette and Johnson were "old friends" is total nonsense!
Johnson convincingly proved himself Jeannette's master he floored him several times in their series and over the longest distance they fought [,15rds,]which Jeannette said would favour himself ,Johnson emerged a clear winner.

We are talking about Johnson's black boxing contemporaries.Johnson acted like a bigshot and got up the White public's nose he refused to toe the line , or hide his predilection for white *****,he humiliated white challengers and so ,once their crusade in finding a White Hope finally paid off, the Whites ensured no black man fought for the title from 1915 until 1937 , 22 years is that soley Johnson's fault ? Didn't the white public have anything to do with it?

BTW .Jack Blackburn had some neck critizising Johnson, he was a fine upstanding example himself, a double murderer and a nasty, quarrelsome drunk.

 

Why is it so hard to believe that johnson appealed to the lower class elements just like a floyd mayweather does, with all of his flash, flushing money down the toilet, and insistence on following his own set of "rules" or lack thereof. You the know the same people that dont have a pot to **** in but will spend their last $1000 on a set of rims that goes on their rusted 78 monte carlo parked outside of their trailer. The same people who equate rioting with social progress. Is it that much of a stretch to suggest that a large part of the black population that idolized a loud mouth, antisocial boxer wasnt exactly representative of the majority of law abiding blacks that wanted to get by, live their life in peace, and make real progress for their people by integrating and being functioning, contributing members of society?

 

I would say that you are half right here.

What you perhaps miss is that a lot of decent black people felt beaten so low, that they were willing to latch onto Johnson as a symbol.

On this board today, a lot of people clearly want him to have been a hero.

If he is, then it is the perfect story.

I honestly wouldn't care to spend a day as a black person in that era.

 

I sure as **** wouldnt mention along people like king, tubman, douglas, or washington.

 

Or Joe Louis realy.

He was ultimately a vain and selfish man, who put balck rights back.

Even so, the worse people who were against him, were the real vermin.