JACK JOHNSON: UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS - 9pm, Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 December on PBS America (Virgin Media 243 & Sky 534) ** As part of Ken Burns' Season **
Broadcast over two evenings, Ken Burns's film tells the story of one of the greatest boxers of all time and his refusal to accept the rules of a society that considered him a second-class citizen.
Jack Johnson was born in 1878 in Galveston, Texas. He began boxing as a young teenager in the segregated South and soon made a considerable name for himself by defeating a succession of opponents with ease. Reigning champion James J Jeffries spurned his persistent challenges, choosing to retire undefeated rather than fight a black person. Johnson was not to be denied his ambition, however, and in 1908 he defeated the new champion Tommy Burns to become the first African-American to be crowned heavyweight champion of the world. His success triggered a worldwide search for 'The Great White Hope' to re-establish the superiority of the white race, but it was Johnson's bold personal life that attracted the most hostility. In 1913 he was convicted in what was widely perceived as a sham trial under a law which prevented the transportation of women for immoral purposes. His real crime was to have married a white woman. Johnson fled the country to avoid prison, but returned six years later to serve his time. This is the story of a man who refused to recognise racial differences and who forced America to reconsider its very definition of freedom.