Unforgivable Blackness
Documentary (2 episodes, 112 and 102 min.)
by KEN BURNS

He was the son of former slaves and from 1904 to 1915, Jack Johnson was the best heavyweight boxer in the world. His 1908 victory over the white heavyweight champion triggered a worldwide search for "The Great White Hope" to take back the title and re-establish the superiority of the white race. But white America and many black leaders were outraged by Johnson's increasingly bold personal life-including openly courting, traveling with and marrying white women. In 1912 he was convicted of transporting a former girlfriend across a state border for the purposes of "prostitution and debauchery." Although the prosecution was clearly flawed, Johnson fled the country to avoid prison, and his life began a downward spiral. Johnson's story is far more than a portrait of one of the most talented and courageous athletes that ever lived. It is also the story of how a nation was forced to reconcile widely held notions of racial supremacy and social order with one man's single-minded determination to live his life outside the confines of color lines.

WINNER OF 3 EMMYS
Outstanding Nonfiction Special
Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance