Frankly, I wish someone other than a "Liberal" with the need to make a social commentary, had used much of the same material about Johnson's own life and boxing. The boxing material was fascinating. The social commentary bordering on the outrageous.
Pretending that one can flaunt the social mores of a community and not expect others to take offense, is the sort of material Leftist politics are made of. But what a sad distraction, the producer offered, from one who truly had extraordinary boxing skills. I had always heard that Johnson had better honed defensive skills that any other Heavyweight, and I frankly marveled at the fluidity of his defensive moves.
What an exciting moment, in Reno, when he met Jeffries. What a shame that they didn't meet a few years earlier, when Jeffries had not been out of the ring for so long. I wish, still, that they had shown the whole fight, not just excerpts, and also some of the fights to which they only alluded. But PBS had to offer a message. Very sad. Their obvious bias, as I say, was a distraction. And in recalling the offensive side of Johnson's life, in order to make that statement, they diminished the stature of their subject.
William Flax
Pretending that one can flaunt the social mores of a community and not expect others to take offense, is the sort of material Leftist politics are made of.
** What's wrong with pointing out the obvious issues of the time? The only reason why he was hated so much is because he slept with white women. This would not have been an issue if the women were black. White men could sleep with black women and not face getting arrested or lynched back then. There's nothing leftist about that because it's TRUE. Not everything is a leftist conspiracy.