I’m a fan of comedy, and I’m a huge fan of Dave Chappelle. I respect his wit, his intelligence, and his ability to challenge uncomfortable topics. That’s exactly why this stood out to me.
In his 2025 Netflix comedy special, Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable…, Chappelle makes pointed negative remarks about Donald Trump, while simultaneously telling a story centered on injustice, accountability, and moral courage. The irony is hard to ignore, because the very story Chappelle uses to make his point, the life of boxer Jack Johnson and the Mann Act, ends with a critical historical fact that goes unmentioned: two Presidents declined to do the right thing, and Donald Trump ultimately did. Leaving out that detail matters, because it changes how responsibility and action are understood. For this to make sense, read the following.
In the special, Chappelle recounts the injustice suffered by boxing legend Jack Johnson, correctly explaining how the Mann Act was used to imprison Johnson and strip him of his career for violating the social norms of his era, particularly interracial relationships. On this point, the history is clear and accurately presented.
Chappelle also notes that Senator John McCain introduced a Senate resolution in 2004 calling for a posthumous presidential pardon for Jack Johnson. McCain argued that Johnson was prosecuted not for a legitimate crime, but because his behavior offended the racial standards of the time. The Senate agreed, and the resolution passed.
What is left out is a critical historical fact: a Senate resolution does not grant a pardon. Under the U.S. Constitution, only a President of the United States has the authority to issue a presidential pardon.
After the resolution passed, President George W. Bush declined to issue the pardon. Years later, despite renewed pressure from boxing historians, civil rights leaders, and members of Congress, President Barack Obama also chose not to act.
It was not until 2018 that President Donald J. Trump issued the posthumous pardon, formally acknowledging that Jack Johnson’s conviction under the Mann Act was unjust and racially motivated. This action closed a chapter that had remained open for more than a century, not through speeches or resolutions, but through presidential authority and action.
[Photo: Jack Johnson]
This final chapter matters. History is shaped not only by injustice, but by who acknowledges it, who avoids it, and who ultimately takes responsibility. Leaving out that context turns a complete historical record into an incomplete one. And when omissions occur in stories meant to expose injustice, they deserve to be examined just as closely as the injustice itself.
References
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- Chappelle, D. (2025). Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable… [Stand-up comedy special]. Netflix.
- McCain, J. (2004). Res. 235: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that Jack Johnson should be posthumously pardoned. United States Senate.
- Trump, D. J. (2018). Proclamation granting a posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson. Executive Office of the President of the United States.
- S. Department of Justice. (n.d.). Justice Manual: Presidential pardons. U.S. Department of Justice.
- Ward, G. C. (2004). Unforgivable blackness: The rise and fall of Jack Johnson. Alfred A. Knopf.
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Robert Ferguson is a California- and Florida-based single father of two daughters, clinical nutritionist, Omega Balancing Coach™, researcher, best-selling author, speaker, podcast and television host, health advisor, NAACP Image Award Nominee, creator of the Diet Free Life methodology, and Chief Nutrition Officer for iCoura Health. He also serves on the Presidential Task Force on Obesity for the National Medical Association and the Health and Product Advisory Board for Zinzino, Inc.
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