Just happened to run across this and thought this was interesting. On February 5, 1913, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) actually banned fights between fighters of different races.
This is in a northern state almost 50 years after the Civil War. Wow.
On this Date in History
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writehooks
- Middleweight
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Re: On this Date in History
This information dovetails with something I'm currently researching. Can you please reference a source? Thanks!
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Ambling Alp II
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Re: On this Date in History
Sure. It was in my local newspaper, the Telegraph Herald. (Dubuque, Iowa). On Sunday, February 5, in the sports section, they had a list of several different sporting events that happened over the years on that date.
Re: On this Date in History
1913 you say.... I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with Jack Johnson being Jack Johnson.Ambling Alp II wrote: ↑05 Feb 2023, 18:20 Just happened to run across this and thought this was interesting. On February 5, 1913, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) actually banned fights between fighters of different races.
This is in a northern state almost 50 years after the Civil War. Wow.
It may have been a bad decision (in retrospect) made for the right reasons though. Jack Johnson being the champ and beating white men did unfortunately result in violence against black people from white men. If every time a black guy beat a white guy in a big fight the reaction of the white public was to take their anger and frustration out on the black community, I would say that making the decision to ban fights between races, in an effort to stop violence a responsible decision.