Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson - Geoffrey C. Ward > Reviews > Drawing the Colour Line

Author's product rating:   

Degree of Information	Very high
How easy was it to read / get information from	An effort
How interesting was the book?	Compelling
How useful was it?	Very useful
Would you read it again?	Probably not
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	an interesting and in depth read
Disadvantages:	can sometimes be overwhelmed by the information

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Jackk Johnson was the first black heavyweight champion in history, at a time when ‘drawing the colour line’ (the refusal of white heavyweights to fight black contenders) he took the title, amongst fear and hatred from both black and white communities alike. Fear and hatred from the white communities as they felt that they were the master race, and that a black man shouldn’t be able to beat someone who was white. Hatred from the black community as they felt that he wasn’t behave as a proper black man should, as was blamed for years after for holding back the progression of black men in boxing.

Jack Johnson was a one off. A man a head of his time, he was not into boxing just for the money as other heavyweights champions would claim, but for the fame and adulation as well. At a time when black men were hung for being suspected of having just having an ‘interest’ in a white woman, Jack Johnson married three, causing a huge furore over the first two.

Jack enjoyed and was very adept at public speaking, he also took part in many vaudeville shows, which was a common at the time for the heavyweights to earn more money between fights. He also enjoyed the relatively new inventions of the automobile and the moving picture.

Geoffrey C. Ward paints a relatively full picture Jack, his private life and public life as well his opponents and the time at which in itself is amazing as there is so little information about his early life written, apart from his half written ‘prison memoir’ and a biography published in 1927, of which very few copies sold.

Geoffrey C. Ward also includes mini-biographies of all the major opponents and promoters in Jack Johnson’s fight to the top and decline to the bottom. Often showing major similarities between Jack and his opponents, which was often touted as the opposite in the press at the time. Ward also includes many footnotes throughout the book, adding pertinent information where needed.

This book while informative, fascinating and brilliantly written, is also quite often heavy going, anyone who doesn’t have an interest in the sport, the person or the time and is just looking for an interesting read should be aware of this, but don’t be put off by this as it brings you a lot of rewards.