In 8 Days Jack Johnson would have been 120 years old..

Yeah, it's telling that the foremost film and book on Jackson is clear that he beat his wife/wives.

It's not "Mendoza's" claim, crybaby. It happened. Go ****ing argue it with Ken Burns.

 

McCoy ended up killing his wife and then himself, right?

 

Yes. But McCoy went to jail, then killed himself later in life.

 

Eh.

Sad considering how much talent the guy had.

 

I am getting a little tired of you sonny ,Mendoza though biased has some knowledge and does research ,you are just his ventriloquists dummy ,why dont you get his hand out of your arse?Does it say anywhere that Johnson beat his wife within an inch of her life?Have you proof that Johnson was a pimp ? Have you proof that he had a sexual disease?how many books have you read on Johnson to make the claim Unforgiveable Blackness is the foremost one? Have you ,for example read Denzil Batchelors,Gilbert Odd s ,Finis Farrs,Nat Fleischers,Randy Roberts,or Johnsons own autobiography? If you havent ,how do you know which is the foremost one?You are just a kid ,who has tagged along with someone ,a band wagon jumper.Know this Mendoza hates Johnson with a consuming passion ,so it isnt likely he will be objective about him,get yourself informed before making silly comments that you havent the knowledge to sustantiate.

 

Yes but you can be a total peice of sh1t as a human being and still be a great fighter.

There is strong circumstantial evidence tghat Jack Johnson beat his wife. Given the circumstances he grew up and lived in it is a wonder that he turned out as nice as he did.

I do not think that he was a pimp. In that period there was a fine line between actress and prostitute so Johnson and other sporting figures of the period associating with these women was the equivalent of Max Baer dating Mae West.

I dont think that Johnson was infertile because he did get one socialite pregnant.

 

Have you actually read Unforgivable Blackness? I ask because you want me to argue the facts with Ken Burns ,you do know that Ken Burns didn' t write it dont you? Unforgiveable Blackness was written byGeoffrey C Ward.The film that Ken Burns made ,draws very heavily on Randy Roberts biography of Johnson "Papa Jack",which Burns acknowledges. I have read 7 books on Johnson,and imo, Roberts book is the best.Spend some time reading it then when you are a little more informed you can come back and take a stab at a mature post ,instead of resorting to four letter words in response to a post about a subject you clearly know nothing about.

 

Right.

So Louis who confessed he would've killed Lana had her friends not intervened while he was ripping her to pieces a la Max Baer, is exempt from your judgement, while Johnson who never confessed (But probably did) beat up his wife, is condemned for it?

Either way, sainthood and boxing don't really go together, so perhaps you should follow tapdancing or something a little less violent?

 

............A bit harsh.


Page 140, "Papa Jack," by Randy Roberts

".........When Etta said or did something that particularly displeased him, he hit her also."

From the same page......."When he was legally injured by a former friend who told the truth, he physically hurt the person."

Or........"When confronted with some difficulty he often lashed out with the weapons that had seved him so faithfully in the ring....."


Seems like you're splitting a few hairs here. The term "within an inch of her life" does not usually literally mean she was a heartbeat away from death. Most of us understand that to mean he simply beat the **** out of her, which is supported in no uncertain terms by the very book you would advise Russell to read. Were you trying to bolster his argument for some reason?

 

Tell that to Jess Willard. :nut

 

Maybe 95% of men pre-1950 beat their wives.

I dont see the relevance when people bring this stuff up about Jack Johnson. He was a great fighter and a significant historical figure. However "evil" people want to make him out to be, his flaws pale into insignificance against the evil of the prejudiced society he lived under.

 

I don't beleive that. 95%? Where have you read this before?

 

I said maybe.

Truth is, no one considered it particularly important in those days. Men beating their wives was usually seen as a "private matter". You could beat your children quite severely in those days too, without being branded an "abuser".

In old movies the leading men are slapping women all the time, and that's an indication of a complete shift in standards of decency. We can assume "real life marriage" situations were somewhat more inclined to violence, and that violence was more socially acceptable or at least "nobody else's business".
It's basic social history.

Women didn't have the same rights or respect in those times, and men generally thought they had the right to discipline their wives physically. Just as white people generally thought of blacks as inferiors, times have changed.