![]() ![]() White people from all across Europe and the United States could imagine that the lighter figure was one of their own countrymen proving their dominance over people of color, while racially oppressed and colonized people could imagine that the darker figure was one of their people fighting back against their oppressors. In this way, the low visual quality and the silence of the films actually helped interracial fight films to become globally popular. Because these early films were silent, local entertainers across the world would narrate the fight to the audience, in their own language, allowing audiences to imagine that they were watching their own people. What could be seen clearly, however, was the image of a lighter man versus a darker man. In the earliest interracial fight films, the fighters could not be seen clearly due to the grainy quality of the film. But there was one form of film that appealed to people of all colors, from all across the world: the interracial fight film. Because these films were intended to prove the toughness and superiority of White American men, they appealed mostly to White Americans. In the United States, early films portrayed the successful control of the Philippines, and most popularly, the conquest of Native Americans. Like many new technologies, film was created and controlled by European and American imperial powers, and was used to spread images and stories of their dominance. Boxers did what most racially oppressed people could only dream of – publicly dominate their oppressors.Īs the new century of 1900 dawned, the rise of film turned the Black boxer into an even more powerful symbol of resistance. When Black boxers fought White opponents overseas, they gained the respect of colonized people, and became symbols of their shared struggle against White supremacy. It was the boxers who communicated this message with the most force. Returning home, they told stories that helped their communities realize that they were not alone… that there were people all around the world who had similar experiences to them, who sympathized with them, and who might even want to work alongside them in their shared struggle against racial oppression. Others roamed the world as travelling performers, or as boxers moving from one prizefight to the next.ĭuring their travels, these men encountered colonized peoples, and realized that racism was used to justify the domination of people not only in the United States, but all across the world. Some became sailors, travelling across the sea from nation to nation. As racist laws were passed and racial violence increased, many Black men sought jobs that allowed them to leave the country. In the 1880’s and 1890’s, White Southerners in the United States were working hard to re-establish the dominance they had lost over Black Americans after the Civil War. In the decades before the rise of Jack Johnson, racial prejudices were growing worse. This is the story of Jack Johnson.īoxing: The Struggle Against Racial Oppression Settling in revolutionary Mexico, he befriended the Mexican president and even trained his generals. In the United States, his success was viewed as threatening the myth of White supremacy, and Johnson was forced into exile. Images of him dominating White fighters in the ring inspired colonized and racially oppressed people across the world to take up boxing. When Jack Johnson became the world’s first Black heavyweight champion in 1908, he instantly became a hero for people of color everywhere. Download the reading.For teachers: download the worksheetand the wide-margin readingfor annotation.
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