ccowden

Oooo.. we can do it documentary style!

Say it ain't so! Wasting time on dz.com?? When did THAT start?!

Here is the link to a little video that McDuck put together from Dublin: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3612

Jack Johnson certainly did just that. And on a level that none of us can even imagine. I am glad you appreciated the story.

Yup- pretty much everything that white people hated to see him do... he did. He used that to his advantage in order to almost force them to fight him and allow his fights. He dated white women, wore fur coats, had gold-plated teeth and made lots of money. He was also very educated and spoke 2 languages. He was no dummy, and he knew how to get what he wanted in a time that did nothing but try to hold him down. He probably had a greater effect on the cultural racism of the day than Rosa Parks, but because of his timing, his story is seldom told.

Yeah, I found myself absolutely fascinated with the story. The next day I asked almost everybody I saw if they had heard of Jack Johnson the boxer, and only one person had. And their knowledge was extremely limited. I was also amazed at how most of the stories I could find on him on the internet left TONS of facts out and just made him seem to be just another boxer with no huge story to be told.

Ya know, the sad thing is, if this WAS a story about Jack Johnson the singer and his "struggles" to make it in the music industry, it would probably get alot more response.

Johnson was turned down MANY times in his career. Not sure about Corbett.

Nope, this is a much more important person in history than the singer will ever be. You should read it.

No, not the singer. I am talking about arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer to ever live. Please take the time to read this. It was an eye-opener for me and an education I was happy to receive. Hopefully at least a few people will feel the same. I had never heard of Jack Johnson the boxer, and almost no one I have asked has heard of him either, which makes his story even more amazing and disgraceful at the same time. Back in the late 1800's, Jack Johnson was born to Henry and Tiny Johnson who were former slaves. Jack left school in 5th grade and basically did whatever he could to earn a buck and started boxing other black boys as entertainment for white men, where they would throw some money on the ring to the winner. He became the number one guy to beat and did pretty well with the money. Then he was thrown in jail because what he was doing was illegal. Once out of jail, he quickly became the Negro Boxing Champion and wanted to fight the white champion, Jim Jefferies, who refused to fight him because he was black. When Tommy Burns became the Champion of the World, Jack followed him all over the world, taunting him to step into the ring with him and fight him. A white fighting a black for the Championship of the World was not allowed at the time, but finally Tommy Burns and the boxing commission caved and allowed the fight to go on in Australia in 1908, and for it to be filmed, which was a big deal at the time, because they all wanted to see this Jack Johnson be defeated so badly. Johnson punished Burns brutally and the police ordered that the cameras stop rolling, and to this day no footage exists past a certain point in the bout. Then, instead of allowing Johnson to knock burns out, the police ordered the fight be stopped. Jack Johnson easily defeated Burns to win the bout, but still was not officially given the title. The "white world" went into an uproar and insisted that there be a white guy to beat Jack Johnson. Challengers came and Johnson easily beat every one. The whites and the boxing commission started to pressure Jim Jefferies to come out of retirement as the "Great White Hope" and defeat Johnson. Finally, after too much pressure to refuse, Jefferies agreed to the fight. The fight and "The Great White Hope" were hyped up so much, that again, the fight was to be filmed and have a live crowd of more than 25,000 to see it. The entire white country was behind Jefferies and wanted so badly to see their white hope defeat this black man. Johnson gave Jefferies the worst beating he ever received. When Jefferies was knocked down for the 3rd time, the referee SHOULD have stopped the fight and awarded the win to Johnson by way of TKO, but no such thing happened. The fight was allowed to continue illegally. Jefferies was knocked down two more times, the last time being knocked through the ropes where his three corner men illegally helped him back up and into the ring so he could continue to fight. It seemed that they were doing everything possible to not let this fight end so that Johnson would not defeat the white Jefferies. But finally the ref called the fight and a riot ensued. In fact, riots all over the country broke out as soon as word arrived that Johnson had defeated Jefferies. Whites rioted against blacks with brutal beatings with the police mostly turning a blind eye. It was made illegal to show any films of Johnson beating white guys. And the media did it's best to make Johnson go away. Johnson went on as the official Champion of the World for another seven years with no real contenders. When the allure of Johnson was winding down, the boxing commission and then Middleweight Champion, Stanley Ketchel approached Johnson with a deal to stage a fight that would be hyped up to draw lots of money and interest, in which the two would fight just hard enough to put on a good show and both would make a good deal of money. Johnson agreed. However, the plan was actually to catch Johnson when he was worn down and vulnerable so that Ketchel could sucker-punch him and beat the black man in front of this huge crown thus ending the reign of Johnson. Ketchel threw a huge right that sent Johnson to the canvas, but didn't even come close to knocking him out. It was 30 seconds later that Ketchel realized the huge mistake he had made. Johnson got up and almost killed Ketchel. It is actually said that Ketchel's teeth were embedded in Johnson's glove. Finally in 1915, a young white boxer named Jess Wilard came along that the boxing commission thought has a good shot at beating the now 37 year old Johnson. But they were not sure he could do it a 10 or 12 round fight, so they scheduled the fight for 45 rounds, outside in 105 degree heat, ensuring that Wilard would have enough time and the right conditions to out-last Johnson. Johnson lasted to round 26 before finally being knocked out by Wilard, thus ending the reign of Johnson and giving the whites back their precious title. Johnson was later arrested for allegedly bringing a woman illegally over the border from Mexico and was told to leave the country and never come back or he would go to jail. The white nation had finally gotten rid of Jack Johnson and all the "embarrassment" he had caused their egos. I was amazed to hear this story be told on a TV show about the greatest heavyweights of the world, and after watching the show, it was no surprise to me why I had never heard of Jack Johnson. It seems that the story and true history of Johnson is still mostly kept quiet. In fact, if you do a search about him, you will find bits and pieces of this full story, with much of the details still being left out of how Johnson was discriminated against and treated so unfairly. Johnson was Mohammed Ali's idol as a boxer and much of Ali's career was for the revenge of Johnson. From time to time, Ali would hold his glove up to his ear in a "Do you hear that?" manner, and say, "Do you hear the ghost in the house?" He was referring to Jack Johnson. Johnson WAS finally inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in the early 1950's, But only after Johnson was killed in a car accident in 1946. This story did a number on me from so many different angles, so I figured I would share it. Pretty amazing story, yet pretty sad as well.

I think it is safe to say that the military would not be a good career choice for you.

So you just told him the truth? Like I said.... kids need role models!

Well, kids do need role models!

What's wrong with you?

Hey, good idea! Me too!

One weekend closer, and I ALREADY screwed up "No Alcohol April!"

Wow! You got all that out of this: How in the hell did you get that he was implying all of that from his first post???

Are those cats doin' it?

Bad awareness of where you exited the plane, coupled by not opening high enough to get back from that spot?

Oh, it was ALREADY tired.

Ha ha ha !! Devil Santa!

Now the smiley has horns!!!!!!

Ha ha! Look! devil horns!

This one!!!!

Oh oh! No, this one!!!