In 1908, Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight boxing champion in the world. Then, in 1913, he was arrested for transporting a prostitute across US state borders. He managed to escape and flee to Europe (like Roman Polanski, but for a much like horrifying crime), before returning to America in 1920 to face the music and serve his sentence in prison.
This week, movie star Sylvester Stallone, who is best known for playing the lead role in the “Rocky” series of boxing films, called up US President Donald Trump and asked him to consider pardoning Johnson for his crimes.
The famous boxer died at the age of 68 back in 1946, so this wouldn’t actually help the guy in any real way. But since the whole situation was racially charged, if the pardon does go through
Trump and Stallone have history
This is not the first contact between Trump and Stallone. When Trump was first elected back in 2016, he offered Stallone the chance to run the arts program for his administration, but the screen legend turned him down. Now, the President tweeted to say that after speaking to “The Expendables” star on the phone and learning about the life of Jack Johnson, he is “considering” giving him a “full pardon.” Senator John McCain and Democratic Senate chief Harry Reid are among those who have called for Johnson to be pardoned in the past.
