RACISM/SPORTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [5-24-18] granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many see as his racially-charged conviction. ‘It’s my honor to do it. It’s about time,’ Trump said during an Oval Office ceremony, where he was joined by boxer Lennox Lewis and actor Sylvester Stallone, who has drawn awareness to Johnson’s cause. Trump said Johnson had served 10 months in prison for what many view as a racially-motivated injustice and described his decision as an effort “to correct a wrong in our history…’ Johnson was convicted in 1913 by an all-white jury for violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for ‘immoral’ purposes, for traveling with his white girlfriend…Johnson is a legendary figure in boxing and crossed over into popular culture decades ago with biographies, dramas and documentaries following the civil rights era.”
-AP Staff, “‘It’s About Time’: Trump Pardons Late Boxer Jack Johnson,” The New York Times online, May 24, 2018