Whereas John Arthur Jack Johnson was a flamboyant, defiant, and controversial figure in the history of the United States who challenged racial biases; Whereas Jack Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1878 to parents who were former slaves; Whereas Jack Johnson became a professional boxer and traveled throughout the United States, fighting White and African-American heavyweights; Whereas, after being denied (on purely racial grounds) the opportunity to fight 2 White champions, in 1908, Jack Johnson was granted an opportunity by an Australian promoter to fight the reigning White title-holder, Tommy Burns; Whereas Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to become the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion; Whereas the victory by Jack Johnson over Tommy Burns prompted a search for a White boxer who could beat Jack Johnson, a recruitment effort that was dubbed the search for the great white hope ; Whereas, in 1910, a White former champion named Jim Jeffries left retirement to fight Jack Johnson in Reno, Nevada; Whereas Jim Jeffries lost to Jack Johnson in what was deemed the Battle of the Century ; Whereas the defeat of Jim Jeffries by Jack Johnson led to rioting, aggression against African-Americans, and the racially motivated murder of African-Americans throughout the United States; Whereas the relationships of Jack Johnson with White women compounded the resentment felt toward him by many Whites; Whereas, between 1901 and 1910, 754 African-Americans were lynched, some for simply for being too familiar with White women; Whereas, in 1910, Congress passed the Act of June 25, 1910 (commonly known as the White Slave Traffic Act or the Mann Act ) ( 18 U.S.C. 2421 et seq.), which outlawed the transportation of women in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose