At this point, Johnson is unstoppable in and out of the ring; so what happens next? You guessed it; the FBI launched an investigation into Johnson’s activities and found him guilty of transporting white women across state lines for immoral purposes.
Did he open a bordello? Or did I miss something? Johnson was an excellent athlete who dated white women and took them on the road with him. Where is the crime in that? Jim Crow was the unwritten law then. History would later prove the charges against Johnson were bogus.
Joe Louis was probably the most embraced black athlete of the first half of the 20th century.
He became heavyweight champion of the world at age 23. Louis was the anti-Johnson, passive, humble, and approachable; many view Louis as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Louis would have public support during his two bouts with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1936 and 1938. These fights carried a political overtone, due to Schmeling’s association with the German Nazi Party.
Jesse Owens found himself in a similar position during the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, Germany. Owens and the rest of the world heard Adolf Hitler’s proclamation that the Aryan nation was a “superior race."
Owens would go on to win four gold medals in track and field, silencing Hitler in the process to the point where Hitler refused to award Owens his medals. Owens returned to the United States a hero, but was later stripped of his amateur status for refusal to run exhibition meets in Europe.
Joe Louis served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945. During this period, he traveled through Europe fighting in exhibitions, giving back the money awarded to him during this time, demonstrating his faith in the war effort.
Upon retirement in 1949, the tables of good fortune would turn on Louis, placing a blemish on his legacy.
In 1950, Louis was harassed by the IRS (they took away his childrens' trust funds and money left to him from his deceased mother), forcing him to come out of retirement. Louis, a shell of his former self, would retire after a knockout loss to Rocky Marciano.
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