Boxing Men: Ideas Of Race, Masculinity, And Nationalism
Abstract: Jack Johnson and Joe Louis were African American boxers who held the title of world heavyweight champion in their respective periods. Johnson and Louis constructed ideologies of African American manhood that challenged white hegemonic notions of masculinity and nationalism from the first decade of the twentieth century, when Johnson held the title, through Joe Louis’s reign that began in the 1930's. This thesis investigates the history of white supremacy from the turn of the twentieth century when Johnson fought and does so through several lenses. The lenses I suggest include evolving notions of masculinity, Theodore Roosevelt’s racially deterministic agendas, and plantation fiction. This thesis also traces the roots of American boxing to England before beginning a biographical exploration of Johnson and Louis in their respective careers. My hope is to sharpen the focus of Johnson and Louis as pioneers for equality by setting the stage in the first two sections. Looking at these boxing champions through the windows of masculinity, race, and nationalism might encourage further scholarship. I view these men as civil rights activists and nothing less. Johnson and Louis fought racism with their fists but also with personalities that challenged myths of white supremacy. These were different men and different kinds of fighters and the comparisons I make are based more on their relationship to an oppressive ruling class than to one another. Johnson was full of bravado and he fought and lived fearlessly. Louis was a study in discipline and a symbol of America. They reflected but also created change in American society in inimitable ways.
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