Quote:
Originally Posted by Little32
First, hunh?
Second, I want him to elaborate on this; what exactly does this mean. What is the nature of this "cloud?" Why this particular offense?
|
I would say this means that when Jack Johnson was in his prime (the 1900s-1920s), he was seen as being "upity". He dated white women and he ruled a sport that up until that time had been dominated by white men.
Think of Jackie Robinson integrating MLB- everyone comments on how well he handled the jeers and threats. Now, Jack Johnson- he integrated a formerly white sport. Only Johnson enjoyed wearing flashy clothes and going out on the town with white women.
So, racists at the time hated Jack Johnson and tried to pin trumped up charges on him. The charge was taking a woman across state lines. Only problem was, the first woman was his wife. So they found a second woman to testify against him on charges that were motivated by his race.
As a side note, Jack Johnson was the first and last African-American to be the heavyweight champ until the 1930s. Not because there weren't other qualified fighters, but because after Johnson, the sport went back to being segregated.