Ep 11. Unforgivable Blackness: Part 2

Unforgivable Blackness: Part 2 is the eleventh episode of the first season of Ken Burns: American Lives. In this episode, the story of heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson continues to unfold. Johnson's rise to fame as the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world in 1908 was met with both admiration and hostility.

Through interviews with experts and historians, along with archival footage and photographs, the episode delves into the social and political issues of the early 20th century that surrounded Johnson's success. Many whites saw Johnson's achievement as a threat to their racial superiority, and the backlash against him led to a search for a "great white hope" to take him down.

Johnson's relationships with white women were also a source of controversy and led to charges of violating the Mann Act, which made it a crime to transport women across state lines for "immoral purposes." Johnson fled the country to avoid imprisonment, and the episode explores his years in exile and eventual return to the United States to serve his sentence.

Despite the challenges he faced, Johnson remained confident and resilient, earning him the nickname "The Galveston Giant." The episode covers his later boxing career and his tragic death in a car accident in 1946.

Through the story of Jack Johnson, Unforgivable Blackness: Part 2 sheds light on the racism and prejudice that existed in America during this time period and the resilience of one man who refused to be brought down by it.