Jack Johnson

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about one of Galveston's own. Now, before we get into this, understand something — the story you're about to hear doesn't unfold in a straight line. It bends, it travels, it takes hits.

And it never, not once, goes down easy. Arthur John Johnson was born in Galveston in 1878. Folks would come to know him as Jack.

And later — much later, after the world had seen what he could do — they'd call him the Galveston Giant. But in the beginning, he was just a kid growing up on the east end, and he learned to handle himself the way a lot of boys did along those wharves: by working them. Hard labor, rough company, and the kind of daily proving that sharpens a man without him even knowing it.

Then came 1900. If you know anything about Galveston, you know what that means. The storm.

Johnson got his family out — out of their home on Broadway — and that right there tells you something about the man before he ever threw a single professional punch. In 1901, Johnson wound up in jail for illegal boxing. Now, most men would call that a setback.

Jack Johnson apparently called it an opportunity. Because in that jail, he refined his defensive skills with the help of a man named Joe Choynski. Just sit with that for a moment.

By 1903, he had claimed the Colored World Heavyweight Champion title. But Johnson was not a man who accepted the ceiling that had been built over his head. The undisputed heavyweight champion of the world was a white man named Tommy Burns, and Johnson wanted that fight.

Burns refused. So Johnson did what Johnson did — he pursued him. Around the world.

Literally. Until Burns finally agreed to meet him in Australia in 1908. Johnson stopped him in the fourteenth round.

Technical knockout. The heavyweight championship of the world now belonged to a Black man from Galveston, Texas. And the response?

The world went looking for what they called a Great White Hope — someone, anyone, who could take that title back. They settled on James Jeffries, a former champion who came out of retirement for the occasion. The date was 1910.

The event was billed as the Fight of the Century. Johnson knocked him out. His victory, the marker tells us, spawned both riots and celebrations across the country.

Both. At the same time. That tension alone tells you everything about the America Jack Johnson was living in.

The government came for him in 1912. A federal indictment under the Mann Act — a law leveraged against him, the marker says plainly, in an attempt to tarnish him and discourage his interracial relationships. Johnson fled the United States and lived in exile for eight years.

In 1915, in Havana, Cuba, he fought what would be his last important match. His opponent was a man named Jess Willard — younger, fitter, and taller than Johnson. It still took Willard twenty-six rounds to knock him out and take the title.

Johnson surrendered to federal authorities in 1920. While he was in prison, he obtained two patents. Two.

The man was not idle a day in his life. After his release, he kept fighting, though never again for a title. He became an entertainer, an exhibition fighter, a man who refused to simply disappear.

His life ended on a road in North Carolina — a car crash — at the age of sixty-eight. He was born in 1878. You can do the math.

The marker calls him an important figure in the struggle for racial justice. It says his refusal to submit to the social standards of his time is what earned him that place. Not just his fists.

His refusal. Jack Johnson — the Galveston Giant — pursued his ambitions against what the marker calls rigid notions of racial hierarchy in twentieth century America. He chased a champion across the globe, defended a title against a nation's hope, survived exile, survived prison, and kept going.

Some men carry Galveston with them wherever they go. He carried it all the way around the world.

What the marker says

Galveston native Arthur John "Jack" Johnson (1878-1946) was the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion. He grew up in Galveston's east end and honed his fighting skills working on the Wharves. During the 1900 storm, Johnson helped his family escape from their home on Broadway. In 1901, he refined his defensive skills with the help of Joe Choynski while in jail for illegal boxing. Johnson won the "Colored World Heavyweight Champion" title in 1903 but was determined to defeat white titleholder Tommy Burns. Though Burns initially refused the match, Johnson pursued him around the world until he finally agreed to fight in Australia in 1908. Johnson's technical knockout in the 14th round led to a search for a "Great White Hope" to retake the title. He defended his title in the 1910 "Fight of the Century" with a knockout of former champion James Jeffries. His victory spawned both riots and celebrations. In 1912, the U.S. government indicted Johnson under the Mann Act in an attempt to tarnish him and discourage his interracial relationships. He fled the U.S. and lived in exile for eight years. In 1915, Johnson fought his last important match in Havana, Cuba. Although younger, fitter and taller, Jess Willard needed 26 rounds to knock out Johnson and take the heavyweight title. Johnson finally surrendered to federal authorities in 1920. While in prison, he obtained two patents. Johnson continued to fight but never again for a title. He spent his later years as an entertainer and exhibition fighter. A car crash on a North Carolina road ended his life at age 68. Johnson, "the Galveston Giant," pursued his ambitions against rigid notions of racial hierarchy in 20th century America. His refusal to submit to the social standards of his time has made him an important figure in the struggle for racial justice. (2010)