President Trump pardoned Jack Johnson, the first black man to become world heavyweight champion, for his violation of the Mann Act in 1913.
Today, President Trump posthumously pardoned heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. pic.twitter.com/JzKP87ZxVM
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 24, 2018
His crime? Marrying a white woman.
Trump had said in April that he was considering the pardon after receiving a call from actor Sylvester Stallone. Previous pleas to presidents by celebrities and lawmakers had failed.
“I am taking this very righteous step, I believe, to correct a wrong that occurred in our history and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion,” Trump said during an Oval Office ceremony, where he was joined by Stallone and boxers Lennox Lewis and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. “It’s my honor to do it. It’s about time.”
Absolutely.
Trump said Johnson had served 10 months in prison “for what many view as a racially motivated injustice.”
While the Mann Act was supposedly intended to stop human sex trafficking, it was also used to convict interracial relationships.
The U.S. Department of Justice began investigating Johnson for violations of the Mann Act soon after it became law in 1910. The law made it a felony to transport across state lines “any woman or girls for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.”
The Mann Act’s purpose was to stop human sex trafficking, but the broad language allowed for it to be used to prosecute men for premarital, extramarital and interracial relationships, even if consensual.
In October 1912, the mother of Lucille Cameron accused Johnson of kidnapping her daughter. But the Justice Department was unable to make a case because Cameron was not a cooperative witness. She married Johnson later that year, the second of three white women to become his wife.
The Justice Department subsequently brought a case against Johnson with the cooperation of a former girlfriend, Belle Schreiber, and in May 1913 he was convicted by an all-white jury for violation of the Mann Act. A month later, he was sentenced to a year and a day in jail.
So basically he was sentenced for marrying a white girl.
His pardon was ABSOLUTELY the right thing to do.
Previous presidents had, for one reason or another, ignored calls to pardon Johnson. and while I have NO DOUBT that Obama would have been called a SOCIAL JUSTICE HERO if he would have pardoned Johnson himself, unhinged leftists are using this as an opportunity to -get this- call Trump a RACIST.
if jack johnson was alive, trump would call him an animal and say he should be executed
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 24, 2018
I’m sorry, was Jack Johnson a member of MS-13?
I missed that.
Hypocritical of you to do this action and pardon a persecuted historical black athlete, when you are openly advocating for persecution of modern black athletes. @realDonaldTrump @nfl #BlackLivesMatter #bendtheknee
— Conan Whalen-McKain (@CelticConan) May 24, 2018
Seriously… wtf are these people even saying?
It’s just a distraction from the FBI informant lie, misuse of authority with DOJ and FBI and total nonsense. And more evidence that to Don, the only good black man, is a dead one.
And ICYMI, Obama was opposed to the the use of pardons because of political implications.— Lynn Smith (@6rateful) May 24, 2018
OMG…OMG. I just can’t with these people. Obama pardoned people what? 2,000 people? (1,927 actually.) SUPER OPPOSED, right?
— Sylvia Wrath
” src=”https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.4/svg/1f996.svg”> (@sandeemusready) May 24, 2018
Wow.
THIS is what MENTAL ILLNESS looks like.