Usually White, but Not Always Great

Abstract

The social presence of African-American boxing champion Jack Johnson reflects one of the most controversial social and media issues of the early twentieth century. Accordingly, the journalistic taglines “white hope” and “great white hope” stand out among the most socially significant legacies of the Johnson controversy. This study traces the genesis and use of these idioms from 1908 through today. Its findings illustrate how these historical phrases have become clouded with misunderstanding, and contemporary usage often is inaccurate, incomplete, and misleading. Most significant, white-hope phraseology predates the Johnson controversy by more than a century. Moreover, the boxing moniker “Great White Hope” was not emphasized during Johnsons era; rather, it reflects 1960s phraseology that journalists interposed onto a historical artifact. The study's archaeological orientation offers historians a more complex understanding of how, for more than a century, news and commercial interests have exploited these phrases to advance troublesome agendas.