Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

Follow Jack Johnson's journey from Texas, as the son of former slaves, to his entry into the world of professional boxing, where, in Jim Crow America, the heavyweight champion was a "white title." In 1908 he became the first African American to earn the title Heavyweight Champion of the World. Johnson's victory set in motion a search for a "white hope" to restore the title to the white race.

By the end of 1910 Johnson was on top of the world, but when no one could beat the champion in the ring, the US government set out to destroy him in the courts, using his relationships with white women as the excuse to prosecute and send him to jail. Johnson fled to Europe where he remained a fugitive for many years. He became a central figure in the ongoing struggle of race in America.