WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Congressional supporters of a pardon for Jack Johnson, the world's first black heavyweight champion who was imprisoned nearly a century ago for his romantic relationships with white women, say his prosecution was racially motivated. Johnson made the same argument 90 years ago while in prison, records at the National Archives show.
In a March 25, 1921 letter to Attorney General Harry Daugherty, Johnson said the prosecutor in his trial made "flagrant appeals to passion, race hatred and moral infamies."
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