Jack Johnson: The Challenges of Being the First Black World Heavyweight Champion - Essay Sample

Introduction

Race and color of the skin have been one of the primary sources of prejudice and discrimination across the globe since time immemorial. Jack Johnson, one of the world's heavyweight boxing champion in the early 19th century and the first black to win the championship, indeed faced numerous challenges during his career. Randy Roberts, in his Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes, details and examines the struggles that Johnson went through in his efforts to win and retain the world's boxing championship. The book report compiled in this paper examines how Jack Johnson challenged, reworked, and accepted racist ideologies in an attempt to create an image of himself and the level of his success in asserting and maintaining the control of his image in light to Randy Robert's work. Jack Johnson's positive self-image was not only a consequence of his greatest triumph against Jim Jeffries but also his pride in blackness.

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How Jack Johnson Challenged, Reworked, and Accepted Racist Ideologies to Create His Image

Jack Johnson created his image by modeling his perceptions and behaviors per the life and expectations of his parents. Raised by ex-slave parents with a deep understanding of racist ideologies, Johnson learned to be resilient and remain focused amid the oppressive whites. Johnson's mother, Tiny, believed that his son could not be a coward, and she taught him to fight back (Roberts 4). Interestingly, she whipped him any moment he came home beaten in a schoolboy fight and insisted that he must be strong and defensive (Roberts 4). As he learned, Jack never lost such fights again. The role that Johnson's mother took in modeling his masculinity supersedes the conventional roles of a woman, which includes gentleness, humanity, and sympathy and even overshadows the role that his father took in shaping his life (Roberts 5). The toughness of Johnson's mother reflected in his long-term resilience and hardiness, allowing him to challenge the racist ideology that blacks are generally weak and are meant to serve.

Additionally, Johnson's reworking and acceptance of racist ideologies are shaped by his tough life experiences and conviction and conviction towards living a better life than his parents' hardscrabble life. Raised in a low-income family with the disabled father "serving faithfully" as a school janitor and the mother committed to serving her family and nothing more, Johnson had a soul conviction to rise above the tides and change the life of his family and live a better life (Roberts 5). Poverty and constant experiences of casual violence, when met with the conviction to change, soften the character, and direct focus. As such, Jackson learned to ignore racist ideologies and focus on developing his image. A critical factor that helped him in this course is his closeness to white boys and white families. Roberts quoted Jack Jackson saying that as he grew up, he befriended the whites and never learned the white supremacy (Roberts 54). As such, he blended well and focused on his own development while paying little attention to racist ideologies.

Finally, his historical triumph against heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries, famously known as the "Great White Hope," in 1910 and victory against other professional fighters allowed him to rework his image and rise above racist ideologies (Roberts 42). He won 80 fights out of 114 bouts between 1897 and 1928. He also defended his championship for three years (Roberts 37). Consistent success builds self-esteem and eventually leads to a feeling of self-actualization. Through such feeling, Johnson developed exhilarating pride and saw himself above the whites, thereby driving his image above the whites and the white supremacy. However, his excessive pride did refurbish not only his image but also was a source of his destruction. In agreement with Roberts' words, assuming that his crown was a source of immunity against white supremacy marked the beginning of his end (Roberts 67). His primary focus on his own image and defiance against conforming to white supremacy generated collusion leading to his conviction in 1912 (Roberts 138).

How Successful He Was in Asserting and Maintaining Control of His Image

Jack Johnson was indeed successful in asserting and maintaining control of his image, albeit he was confronted with numerous challenges emanating from the white supremacy. Just like any other African-American, his struggle to rise while being truly free African-American was met with multiple intricacies. Unlike most common blacks, Jack Johnson was never submissive to the legal and moral rules outlined by white establishments. Instead, he was motivated by living his life as a free individual (Roberts 86). For instance, it was a social norm that African-Americans were not to participate in sports and social activities that exclusively fall within the white domain (Roberts 26). World heavyweight championship was one of such domains. Despite such rules, Johnson remained persistent until he challenged and won the world title against the incumbent, James Jeffries, mirroring his success.

Johnson has also received tributes as the world's greatest heavyweight in history, having won numerous fights and awards. For about 14 years in his career, Johnson managed to create an inalienable image for himself while not only defeating his opponents with surprising ease but also earning a significant amount of money (Roberts 258). His win against Jeffries on July 4, 1910, in Nevada, sparked a nationwide wave in which African-Americans exhibited their pride and ability to rise above the white supremacy (Roberts 42). His success made him a self-defined man with a world title. He believed that he could establish a better self-image and earn more when fighting white boxers, thereby denying matches against colored heavyweights (Roberts 34). His widely celebrated success confirms that he was indeed successful in asserting and maintaining control of his image. As his pride and defiance grew, he became the most hated black American of his time, which, on the one hand, further helped in developing his image while on the other set pace for his destruction under the Mann Act (Roberts 157).

Conclusion

From the analysis, it is evident that Jack Johnson labeled the Galveston Giant, endure numerous challenges in order to rise above the racist ideologies and establish an unassailable self-image. His success was indeed supported by his belief that anybody, irrespective of the color of his or her skin, can indeed rise above the symbolic 'white hopes' and becomes a world icon and perfected by his historic victory against the "Great White Hope." As the report ascertains, Johnson's commitment towards building his image as a result of his harsh and challenging childhood and youthful life, coupled with his ambition. Having been close to the whites for long, he was never moved by the white supremacy but focused towards attaining individual freedom. Thus, his positive self-image was not only as a result of historical victory but also his belief in himself and experiences from blackness.

Work Cited

Roberts, Randy. Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes. W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library, 2017.