GALVESTON — Former African-American heavyweight champion Jack Johnson is nearing a presidential pardon almost a century after being convicted of a romantic relationship with a white woman.
Congress approved a resolution Wednesday urging a presidential pardon for the Galveston native. The House passed the resolution by voice vote about a month after the Senate approved it.
“The Galveston Giant” became the nation’s first African-American heavyweight boxing champion after defeating Canada’s Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 26, 1908.
However, Johnson was convicted in 1913 for violating the Mann Act by having a consensual relationship with a white woman.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced the resolution for the posthumous pardon of Johnson in April. It was the second time the former Republican presidential hopeful had introduced a resolution calling for Johnson’s pardon.
An attempt in 2008 passed the Senate but never got to a vote in the U.S. House.
“I’m pleased the House has joined the Senate in passing a resolution to express the sense of Congress that Jack Johnson, the best heavyweight fighter of his era, should receive a posthumous pardon for being convicted of violating the Mann Act in 1913,” McCain said.
Galveston City Council member Tarris Woods said a resolution for Johnson’s pardon was a long time coming.
“I am totally excited about the news,” Woods said. “It’s taken another step, and now we just need to wait for President Obama’s signature. I’m sure he’ll sign it immediately when it reaches his desk.”
Woods has been writing letters to Washington for 21 years, hoping to get a pardon for Johnson. Most recently, he sent a letter to Obama on March 17.
Woods said he only wished that Johnny Valentine, the late president of the Jack Johnson Foundation in Galveston, were alive to see this day.
“Johnny found tirelessly for this cause,” Woods said. “I can only imagine how overjoyed he would be.”
The resolution’s House sponsor, Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was thrilled that after five years of efforts, it’s passed both chambers of Congress.
“Jack Johnson is a trailblazer and a legend, whose boxing career was cut short due to unjust laws and racial persecution,” King said. “I urge the president to do the right thing and take the final step and grant his pardon.”
The White House, which didn’t comment after Senate passage, had no immediate comment Wednesday night.
Authorities first targeted Johnson’s relationship with a white woman who later became his wife but then found another white woman to testify against him.
Johnson fled the country after his conviction but agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence.
He tried to renew his boxing career after leaving prison but failed to regain his title.
