Was Jack Johnson bad for the black fighters?

Sadly, I have to agree here. It took guys with a public demeanor more like Joe Louis and Floyd Patterson to really open the white public to accepting and rooting for a black HW champ. Had Johnson been like Patterson in particular, I think the public could have been moved earlier than it waas -- I don't care what kind of ignorant bigotry is in one's heart, it would seem difficult to see public appearances by Patterson and not eventually think "I kinda like that guy."

I feel like Johnson would have been laughing his ass off watching Ali and Tyson become so popular, feeling like he got the last laugh.

 

Wasn't much of the color line business there precisely because they all knew that if they let black men compete with white men, black men would often turn out to be the best, showing white supremacy is a fallacy?

Anyway, I do have to admit that it serves "them" right that the man who shattered the color line did it with a giant middle finger raised to them while having their wives bent over a piece of furniture. Metaphorically speaking.

 

I saw Steward interviewed on Johnson and thought about it for a long time and my take is he may know the 101 version of Johnson but not the details and I say this because of his abrupt, incomplete analysis of his ring skills ... he writes him off in the ring based on the handful of filmed fights and the size of the opponents without any mention of the large and highly talented men he fought often and consistently on his way to the title ...I both read the interview and actually saw a very similar one on Youtube .. by no means do I knock Steward but feel he may not be deeply researched on Johnson ...

 

The white populace was bad for black fighters............

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Steward has stated Johnson was more famous for his arrogance than anything else and its true, he was bad for everyone overall.

 

Absolutely not because Johnson paved the way for Black boxers/fighters.

 

From a behavior standpoint, yes he was. Took over 20 years to get another champion at heavyweight. Plus, there were other black people who were not that fortunate financially to do what he could do.

 

That was a reflection on society , not Johnson. He did nothing illegal until they trumped up the Mann act specifically to target him. Too say that the next generation of black fighters has to be good boy may have been true but that's not on Jack.

 

Here we go again. Another person who thinks A. The Mann Act was created to get Johnson. It wasnt. And B. Johnson never did anything illegal. You gotta love uneducated social justice warriors. Still pretending to be a historian I see...

 

Bingo. The assumption that Johnson should have had to behave like an angel just because he was black when tons of boxers in that era were POS in their personal lives is stupid.

Joe Louis did try to take on that racial burden but it should not have been an expectation for anyone.

 

Exactly.

 

when jackie robinson signed on to the dodgers, the owner and manager made sure that they had a man who had an even temperament, was well mannered and had NO scandals. it wasn't about knowing his place or acting "white". they wanted a player that america could see and say, "wow! he is a good player and we have no issues with him!" in this manner, the floodgates were opened for people of color in baseball. i believe that "janitor" was aiming at.

 

Actually it was selecting a man that would put up with all the horrific abuse that would be thrown at him by both players and fans for a three year period without reacting no matter what. Not if they threw at him, cursed him, hit him. That was the deal. After three years the deal was over .. Robinson was also doing this forty years after Johnson in a still vile but more domesticated society . He was also after almost 12 years of the good guy Louis routine so we see how well that worked ... some feel Louis created a path for Jackie to be considered and maybe there was something to that but there was also a tax to the minstrel act and it came due in the 60's ...

 

Hi Buddy.
Exactly, chimes with my post entirely, funny how some posters still see a juxtapose position on this topic, still put the blame at Johnsons feet, and not the blatant attitude of the prevailing thought process that, the black man was inferior, and should be kept in his place.
stay safe amigo.