Essay on Jack Johnson.

BTW Jack visited Peter Maher when he was down-an-out and in Hospital, spent time with him and dropped him some money.

 

Surely you jest, not that whoremongering,pimping,coward?

 

That post was beautiful mcvey, great job.

I dont think anyone could have said it better.


I dont remember the exact quote, but Johnson said something along the lines of "Whatever they say about me, make sure they now I was a man."

 

Brilliant

 

As do I, is there any other way SB?

 

Thank you :good

 

His character was a part of it too. They hated how he bought and wore expensive clothing. Drove expensive cars. Dated white women. He felt goaded into proving that he could earn such a living, and to show it off.

 

It would have happened to any black man. If any black person won the belt at the time, there would have been riots theres no question about it.

You think there would be some black fighter out there who would make a killing off boxing, and NOT spend it on luxuries?

It was a doggy dog world in the boxing game, and unless you were a man who could stand up for yourself and made sure everyone around knew it, you would get eat up. Which black fighter of the day lived the Joe Louis lifestyle of being extremely careful of the media?

The difference your thinking of, I think, is the fact that Johnson was always smiling, taunting in the ring, and was loud and boastful wherever he went. True. But is this an underlying factor of how significant the riots were? Or was it the fact that he was the black heavyweight champion of the world.

 

I guess that is the big "what if" that we will never know the answer to.

What if there had been a black heavyweight champion in place of Johnson, who had been carefull in the way he handeled his public image like Joe Louis?

In the case of Joe Louis it was all something of a charade. He did sleep with white women, cheat on his wife, and live a lavish lifestyle. Perhaps what made the difference was the fact that he presented himself as a positive rople model, and the persona became more important than the reality.

There can be no doubt that the objections to Jack Johnson rested principaly on the colour of his skin. Some of the most damning aspects of his private conduct never even seem to have drawn criticism. Again, what he represented became more important than the reality.

Part of the tragedy about Jack Johnson and the way that he was perceived, is that he was probably the most inteligent of all the heavyweight champions, before the Klitschko brothers came allong. Had he lived today he could probably have found a thousand things other than boxing to make a living doing.

It never ceases to fascinate me the way Jack Johnson still polarises opinions today.

I have a feeling that he would have been flattered.

 

You have much to learn. There were black champions before Johnson. Gans and Dixon come to mind. There was also a decent black fighter who got a crack at Tommy Ryan's middle weight title long before Johnson-vs. Burns. Peter Jackson was treated with respect by the press too.

There were no riots when Gans, Dixon, or Jackson won title matches. At least none that I am aware of. Johnson was a real A-hole and a thug who disobeyed laws, and took great pride is irking people. Essentially he was a gloating winner, and a sore loser. That why he created riots.

 

I think that a lot of the trouble surounding Johnson was based on the particular significane atached to the heavyweight champion as the "ultimate fighting man on the planet".

Nobody particularly cared if a black fighter held the bantemweight title or how he conducted himself in private if he did.

 

Peter Jackson won the British Empire crown, which was a major title and did not have such trouble. When Jackson meet Corrbett there was no trouble. Johnson caused trouble. He was polarizing figure.

I have to disagree a little. Some of the time did not like a black bantamweight champion. Dixon had some issues, but it was nothing that caused a riot.