Papa Jack: Jack Johnson And The Era Of White Hopes

by Randy W. Roberts

The startling true story of the most famous—and most hated—black American of his day. Papa Jack takes us into a violent and sordid world.

From Randy Roberts, Papa Jack is an astonishing tale of black defiance—and white retribution—set against the dramatic canvas of sports and spectacle in Southern Jim Crow America.

Genres: History, Biography, Sports, Race, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[zed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years back and recall it being a very good read on Boxing and it's impact on US race relations in that era.

[Bryan Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roberts not only gives you a biography, but portrays Johnson in the context of Jim Crow America. Johnson was his own man and he did not bow down to racial convention. It's an amazing story and well-written.

[jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It was almost as if freedom could be found only on the borders of death."

I read this for class! Here is an excerpt from my highly intelligent big girl analysis:
Randy Roberts cements Jack Johnson's fatal flaw in the final moments of this book: ego. Jack Johnson had a terrible, blood thirsty ego that could not be quenched by anything, not money, his collection of white women and flashy cars, not a championship title. Johnson died floundering in his own obscurity, more of a memory rather than a man, and Roberts writes his entire book with this same melancholic tone, one that isn't evident until the very end. This entire book is very black and white (in both facts and racial prejudices). Johnson grew up in a world promising new opportunity. The promise was empty. He fought, and fought well. He had a harsh anger problem that he took out on white women and black women alike. The world wanted him to lose, and refused to bend. However, within these last few chapters, the author finally gave the nuance of a world that would do just about anything to see him pay for nothing but being Black and successful in a white man's world by dictating his court trails with a fair hand. Belle wanted to see her ex-lover hurt, the courts wanted to see him behind bars, and white men everywhere wanted to see him dead. Overall, I'm still not sure why you would write a book about a man that you simply respect instead of admire, but Robert's book gives Jack Johnson a legacy that would have otherwise died quietly out.

Anyways fuck Randy Roberts sort of for being so punishing of Johnson, but I can't really put that in a discussion post.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A workmanlike and balanced look at one of the great Americans.

[Robert Baird · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best biography I know of regarding one of the most profound American athletes and public figures of all time.

[Justin Bumgarner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Johnson is one of the more fascinating athletes of all-time I feel, mostly because his indifference to the hate he was facing at the time. He got a raw deal of course, and I don't think he cared about the advancement of his people, he only cared about himself. But I think it's fascinating how he laughed in white authority's face in a time that such acts were unthinkable.

This is one of, if not the best, biographies I've read. Jack Johnson is obviously very interesting but it's also the writing style. I feel I could read anything by Randy Roberts and I would love it, no matter the subject. I immediately ordered some more books by him, he's that good

[Mark Dill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing biography of a terrific athlete whose impact easily transcends sports to the broader context of racial tensions so much a part of American culture. Unlike a lot of sports figures, Johnson is relevant today, decades after his passing. His story speaks to the need for enlightenment and change in the way people treat others.

[John Hively · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, wonderfully written and researched.

[Mike Barat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Johnson was a real bad ass. A imagine if you will a black man who married several white women before 1920, and drove cars as if he stoled them, and was heavyweight boxing champion of the world, and had patents for several inventions, Had he been white we may very well be talking about jack Johnson as one the greatest inventors in the same company as Albert Edison, however that we never know. When Johnson became the champion by beating Tommy Burns, and it caused race riots through out the United States, as black people took to the streets to celebrate ( as they should have. ) and yelling in celebration how do like that white man. In fact some people were shot and killed during does race riots, that went on for several days in some places. Also a expression of that generation of black people that could remember Jack Johnson winning the championship was, I like my coffee black, like Jack Johnson. And that expression was said by black people of that generation for a long time after Jack Johnson was no longer boxing. A short time after Jack Johnson became Champion, they had what they called white hope tournaments to look for a white boxer that could beat Jack Johnson, to no avail. They even brought this former champion Jim Jeffries out of retirement to fight Jack Johnson, and Jack Johnson beat him like a toy drum. Jim Jeffries who was as racist as anybody of that generation said, I could not have beaten Jack Johnson if I was in my prime. Mohammad Ali notice him trash talking in a silent film of one of Jack Johnson's fight, and copied his act. Here is some Interesting trivia for you. The man Jack Johnson first beat to become champion was a Canadian Tommy Burns who was a white man married to a black women. What were the odds of that in that time period?

[Chuckles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in college in the mid 90s, the author was one of my history professors. I have always loved boxing so of course I loved this book and the portion of the class that covered Jack Johnson and the era. Prof Roberts was one of those professors who really changed how I looked at things.

The book follows Heavyweight Champion Johnson’s life in the context of the Jim Crow era, and how he was targeted by powerful whites for not knowing his place, and many other normal racist whites just for being black. Jack Johnson’s boxing superiority in the era is what led to the original quest for a “Great White Hope”, someone who could beat him. Roberts does not shy away from uncomfortable truths however; Johnson was deeply flawed and his arrogance made it easier for his hater to go after him.

This might be a bit dry, it was written I think more for academic purposes (as I said it was a required text for my 100 level history class by the author), it misses some of the more gossipy aspects you see in the more popular biographies published nowadays. That is good and bad.