Related Link Missed in Coverage of Jack Johnson, the Racism Around Him

President Trump on Thursday pardoned Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, who was convicted in 1913 of transporting a white woman across state lines.

Decades after Johnson was convicted under the Mann Act, his case drew significant attention as a gross miscarriage of justice and a symbol of the depths of racism in the American justice system.

Johnson was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act on charges that he transported a white woman across state lines “for immoral purposes.” The woman Johnson transported, Belle Schreiber, worked as a prostitute and had been in a steady relationship with the heavyweight champion.

Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison, but he fled the country for several years, returning in 1920 to serve his sentence.