Civil Rights Post 1

The first documentary we watched for the civil rights unit was about Jack Johnson, the best heavyweight boxer of all time. He was extremely controversial, and did things that any other black man at the time would be killed for. However, he was so famous that he couldn't be killed. His style of boxing was different from all other men, it focus more or defense which led him to go completely undefeated until the last match of his career. His style was criticized by whites as lazy and cowardly. The current heavyweight champion at the time said he would only fight Johnson if he was paid ridiculous amounts of money, which someone ended up coming up with. Johnson beat him by a landslide, yet was still not considered heavyweight champion. He then played Jeffries, the heavyweight champion that was undefeated, but retired. Johnson beat Jeffries, yet many whites wouldnt give Johnson credit just because jeffries had past his peak. Jack Johnson was the most infamous black man during his career, and was a revolutionary figure in sports, especially because of his race.However, as the documentary stated, "Just because jack johnson won doesn't mean that anything has changed for the black man"(LA Times).