McCain and King lobby Obama to pardon first black heavyweight champion boxer

Two Republican lawmakers are lobbying President Barack Obama to pardon black boxer Jack Johnson, who was jailed nearly 100 years ago because of his relationship with a white woman.

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Rep. Pete King (N.Y.) wrote a letter to Obama after Justice Department pardon attorney Ronald Rogers informed the duo that Johnson’s pardon was not a top priority.

“We were sorely disappointed” in Rogers’s note, wrote McCain and King.

Rogers replied to a previous request from the two lawmakers, saying that a pardon for Johnson, who was the first black heavyweight champion of the world, is not a top priority in light of the “record” number of clemency requests the president has already received.

The House and Senate earlier this year passed a resolution requesting that Obama pardon Johnson, the first time since 1974 that Congress has taken such action.

McCain has long advocated for a pardon for Johnson, and King is a well-known boxing enthusiast.

Johnson was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which outlawed the transport of women across state lines for immoral reasons. The provision in the law was primarily intended to prevent prostitution and illegal trafficking. Johnson fled the country after his conviction but later returned to serve a 10-month prison sentence. The boxer died in 1946.

“A posthumous pardon would represent a final vindication to Mr. Johnson’s family and to the ignominious stain on our nation’s history, and highlight the achievements of the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World,” McCain and King wrote.

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