PBS: Unforgivable Blackness - The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (by Ken Burns)

Resource Category: 
Television

Jack Johnson was the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and race riots in the early 20th century. Perhaps even more troubling for white America than Johnson's dominance over his white opponents in the boxing ring were his romantic entanglements with white women.