Jack Johnson

|reach = {{convert|74|in|cm|0|abbr=on}}

|reach = {{convert|74|in|cm|0|abbr=on}}

|birth_name = John Arthur Johnson

|birth_name = John Arthur Johnson

|birth_date = {{birth date|1878|04|1|mf=y}}

|birth_date = {{birth date|1878|03|31|mf=y}}

|birth_place = [[Galveston, Texas]], U.S.

|birth_place = [[Galveston, Texas]], U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1946|06|10|1878|03|31|mf=y}}

|death_date = {{death date and age|1946|06|10|1878|03|31|mf=y}}

}}

}}

'''John Arthur Johnson''' (April 1, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the "'''Galveston Giant'''", was an American [[boxing|boxer]] who, at the height of the [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow era]], became the first black world [[heavyweight]] boxing champion (1908–1915). [[Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries|His 1910 fight]] against [[James J. Jeffries]] was dubbed the "fight of the century".John L. Sullivan, cited in: Christopher James Shelton, Historian for The Boxing Amusement Park, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101130152056/http://www.ringsideboxingshow.com/SheltonBLOGJohnsonJeffries.html {{"'}}Fight of the Century' Johnson vs. Jeffries, the 100th anniversary"]}} Johnson defeated Jeffries, who was white, triggering [[Johnson–Jeffries riots|dozens of race riots]] across the U.S. According to filmmaker [[Ken Burns]], "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious [[African American]] on Earth".Ken Burns, ''Unforgivable Blackness'' {{explain|year, publisher, form of media?|date=October 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/johnsons-rise |title=Unforgivable Blackness. Sparring. Johnson's Rise |publisher=PBS |access-date=September 30, 2014}} He is widely regarded as one of the most influential boxers in history.

'''John Arthur Johnson''' (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the "'''Galveston Giant'''", was an American [[boxing|boxer]] who, at the height of the [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow era]], became the first black world [[heavyweight]] boxing champion (1908–1915). [[Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries|His 1910 fight]] against [[James J. Jeffries]] was dubbed the "fight of the century".John L. Sullivan, cited in: Christopher James Shelton, Historian for The Boxing Amusement Park, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101130152056/http://www.ringsideboxingshow.com/SheltonBLOGJohnsonJeffries.html {{"'}}Fight of the Century' Johnson vs. Jeffries, the 100th anniversary"]}} Johnson defeated Jeffries, who was white, triggering [[Johnson–Jeffries riots|dozens of race riots]] across the U.S. According to filmmaker [[Ken Burns]], "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious [[African American]] on Earth".Ken Burns, ''Unforgivable Blackness'' {{explain|year, publisher, form of media?|date=October 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/johnsons-rise |title=Unforgivable Blackness. Sparring. Johnson's Rise |publisher=PBS |access-date=September 30, 2014}} He is widely regarded as one of the most influential boxers in history.

In 1912, Johnson opened a successful and luxurious "black and tan" ([[Desegregation in the United States|desegregated]]) restaurant and nightclub in Chicago, which in part was run by his wife, a white woman. Major newspapers of the time soon claimed that Johnson was attacked by the federal government only after he became famous as a black man married to a white woman, and was linked to other white women.{{Cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/history/ct-met-cafe-de-champion-jack-johnson-chicago-20180525-story.html |title=The short, sad story of Cafe de Champion – Jack Johnson's mixed-race nightclub on Chicago's South Side |last=Johnson |first=Charles J. |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 27, 2018 |language=en-US}} Johnson was arrested on charges of violating the federal [[Mann Act]]—forbidding one to transport a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes"—a racially motivated charge that embroiled him in controversy for his relationships, including marriages.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mrjbk8zc7PgC&q=etta+Duryea++suicide&pg=PA164|title=What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America|last=Pascoe|first=Peggy|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-509463-3|location=Oxford, England|pages=164–165|oclc=221155113}} Sentenced to a year in prison, Johnson fled the country and fought boxing matches abroad for seven years until 1920, when he served his sentence at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth.

In 1912, Johnson opened a successful and luxurious "black and tan" ([[Desegregation in the United States|desegregated]]) restaurant and nightclub in Chicago, which in part was run by his wife, a white woman. Major newspapers of the time soon claimed that Johnson was attacked by the federal government only after he became famous as a black man married to a white woman, and was linked to other white women.{{Cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/history/ct-met-cafe-de-champion-jack-johnson-chicago-20180525-story.html |title=The short, sad story of Cafe de Champion – Jack Johnson's mixed-race nightclub on Chicago's South Side |last=Johnson |first=Charles J. |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 27, 2018 |language=en-US}} Johnson was arrested on charges of violating the federal [[Mann Act]]—forbidding one to transport a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes"—a racially motivated charge that embroiled him in controversy for his relationships, including marriages.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mrjbk8zc7PgC&q=etta+Duryea++suicide&pg=PA164|title=What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America|last=Pascoe|first=Peggy|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-509463-3|location=Oxford, England|pages=164–165|oclc=221155113}} Sentenced to a year in prison, Johnson fled the country and fought boxing matches abroad for seven years until 1920, when he served his sentence at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth.