Jack Johnson's Proposed Pardon: An Uncomfortable, Unnecessary Intersection of Sports and Society

Jack Johnson was one of the first great American boxers. He was certainly the first great black American boxer. In death, he has become a cause célèbre for the glitterati and politicians alike, his story gracing the silver screen and the small screen, and his vindication has been taken up by John McCain, among others. Maybe it shouldn't be.The movement is strong and noble in its surface intent, getting Johnson pardoned for a supposedly racism-tinged 1913 conviction for violating the Mann Act and transporting a woman across state lines for lascivious purposes. McCain has said, in the typically loaded language of politicos, "We need to erase this act of racism which sent an American citizen to prison on a trumped-up charge. I have great confidence this president will be more than eager to sign this legislation and pardon Jack Johnson." Should no pardon come, President Barack Obama's failure to exonerate a long-dead man whose prosecution was "racia...