My favorite documentary filmmaker is Ken Burns, who wowed me along with every other person who viewed his epic The Civil War two decades ago. When discussing documentaries with a friend of mine who is a big boxing fan, I mentioned that I owned a documentary on Jack Johnson, the notorious black boxer of the early gloved era, by Ken Burns. My friend said, “Not interested. I just have a hard time getting past the criminal aspect.”

Now, my friend does not know early boxing, and did not realize that he was parroting an old white prejudice against Johnson. You see boxing historians have worked their character sketches of boxers according to a few archetypes, particularly where heavyweights are concerned. The social archetypes by which boxing historians and sportswriters, and hence the readers of their work, have related to the heavyweight champion are as follows:

1. The ‘Worker’, men such as Larry Homes and Joe Louis who were craftsmen, working class athletes who toiled their way to the top and stayed there by dint of hard work.

2. The ‘Monster’, men like Tyson, Marciano and Dempsey who were thrillingly predatory in the ring and caught a hold of the casual boxing fan and expanded the fan-base.

3. The ‘Torch Carrier’, being most of the sport’s top men, the fighters who were the best of their time but are not evoked often as a history-maker or classed among the best of all time.

4. The ‘Virtuoso’, the rarest, men to whom the laws of bio-mechanics seem not to apply, men who in their prime toyed with top fighters. In the heavyweight category they number but two; Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson.

Unfortunately for the memory of Jack Johnson, he is predominantly referred to as an ‘earlier Ali’ and the modern fan is left to think of him, as an earlier cruder model of Ali. In a social sense Ali is now largely seen as a negative: obnoxious and disrespectful to opponents; speaking out against U.S. foreign policy; living in exile; consorting with criminals [The Nation of Islam and Don King]. But, Ali is still around, and is a mellow likeable man with a beautiful daughter. Much of his film footage also shows us a talkative good spirited young man who now seems more like a cross between a black comedian and a pro wrestler.

So the negative memories of Ali—at least in the boxing consciousness—seem to get pushed back onto Johnson. When I was a child Johnson was talked of as ‘the bad champion’ the ‘disrespectful champion’, and Joe Louis was held up as the image of the good black champion. Joe, it was said, had to be groomed to be accepted by white boxing fans, so that a black man could get another shot at the biggest title in sports after Johnson had so sullied and tarnished the image.

I am here to tell you, that although the case for or against Ali as a ‘bad champion’ [one that stood over and taunted downed opponents] can be made, there is no such case to be made against Johnson. It is a shame that so many will not watch this documentary because they think Johnson was some loud-mouthed poor-sport criminal champion. The facts were, he walked defiantly and with dignity onto a stage that was dominated by loud-mouthed poor-sport criminally-backed white champions, at the very time that 150 black men were being lynched a year. And he did it with an easy smile and even a helping hand for the white fighters he knocked out, and often carried to their corner.

The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

A Film Directed by Ken Burns

PBS Home Video, 2004, 2-disc set

Like Ken Burns’ The Civil War, part of the joy of this documentary is the visual stills of the era coupled with the well-chosen voices for the quotes. Samuel L. Jackson speaks for Johnson. Billy Bob Thornton, in a chilling reading, speaks for the racist Los Angeles Times editor in the July 5th 1910 editorial A Word to the Black Man.

The other really good thing about Burns is his choice of interviews. In The Civil War we were introduced to author Shelby Foote. I immediately said to myself, ‘To have coffee with that guy, to talk to him in a library; that would be the best way to spend an afternoon.’ In this film we are introduced to author Stanley Crouch, and if you are a thinking human you will smile and nod often at his insightful commentary.

This film is purportedly about one man, but it is ultimately about an age, possibly the most harrowing age this country has gone through. This should be required viewing in the American classroom.

Do yourself a favor and view this film.

If you are a boxer or trainer you need to view this film to gain a true appreciation of what boxing was; of the gravity of the game; of what you have inherited.