Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
by Geoffrey C. Ward

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
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Book Summary Information

Author: Geoffrey C. Ward
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-01-03
ISBN: 0375710043
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Vintage

Book Reviews of Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

Book Review: How it Used to Be
Summary: 5 Stars

Whenever anyone wants to bring up race relations in America and how bad they can be at times, one should simply read through a little bit of the life of Jack Johnson. As testy as things can be today, they are nothing compared to the outright and plainly accepted racism of just a century ago. Stories like this one help to remind one and all that the pure hatred and pain of frontline open racism in America is just beyond living memory, but it's been passed down by just one or two generations. If forgiveness is to come, patience must be our watchword.

Johnson was the Mike Tyson of his day - brash, freewheeling and fast-spending, but just so damn good at what he did that nobody could stop him. He defied moral conventions simply by following his heart and his desires, and it made him one of the most hated men in America. Ward's treatment of the stories of his life are thorough, intense and sadly reflective of an America we are still struggling to come out from under.

Summary of Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

In this vivid biography Geoffrey C. Ward brings back to life the most celebrated - and the most reviled - African American of his age.

Jack Johnson battled his way out of obscurity and poverty in the Jim Crow South to win the title of heavyweight champion of the world. At a time when whites ran everything in America, he took orders from no one and resolved to live as if color did not exist. While most blacks struggled simply to exist, he reveled in his riches and his fame, sleeping with whomever he pleased, to the consternation and anger of much of white America. Because he did so the federal government set out to destroy him, and he was forced to endure prison and seven years of exile. This definitive biography portrays Jack Johnson as he really was--a battler against the bigotry of his era and the embodiment of American individualism.

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