Presidential pardon for Jack Johnson long overdue

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 07, 2013

~~<p>For all the things President Obama says he can’t do because of the political gridlock in Washington, he can right a century-old wrong simply by picking up a pen. Tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon.</p>
<p>Jack Johnson, boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, was arrested in October 1912, railroaded by an all-white jury the following June and eventually served a year in prison, essentially for escorting a white woman across state lines. All these years later, for all the other things that have changed since, Johnson’s name is still lashed to those tracks.</p>
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For all the things President Obama says he can’t do because of the political gridlock in Washington, he can right a century-old wrong simply by picking up a pen. Tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon.

Jack Johnson, boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, was arrested in October 1912, railroaded by an all-white jury the following June and eventually served a year in prison, essentially for escorting a white woman across state lines. All these years later, for all the other things that have changed since, Johnson’s name is still lashed to those tracks. Login for more...