Most news outlets, both print and online, have covered President Trump's May 24th pardon of boxing legend Jack Johnson. The New York Times went a step farther in an essay titled "Missed in Coverage of Jack Johnson, the Racism Around Him." The authors had delved into the newspaper's archives to discover how "For The Times, Johnson, who in 1908 became the first black boxer to win the world heavyweight title, was inseparable from his race. It permeated how the newspaper covered every detail of his life, from his boxing to his legal troubles to his demeanor and success."

It took me about 30 seconds to find thousands of hits on Jack Johnson in Chronicling America, and even less time to find an example of racist language. English/Language Arts teachers could hand out multiple examples and ask students to highlight instances of racist language and also look for other language clues as evidence of the journalists' views on race in their coverage of Jack Johnson. Not only would this serve as a lesson in media literacy, but also as a lesson in reporting history through the use of both subtle and not-so-subtle language. 

I've copied one example below in which the writer seems at first to be sympathetic to the "plight" of Johnson's white wife, but ends with "...she knew the doom of her pitiful romance and sodden life had been sealed." Doom, pitiful, sodden - all are language clues about the racist attitudes of the journalist.

The day book. (Chicago, Ill.), 06 April 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1915-04-06/ed-2/seq-29/>

6 - 8 9 - 12 English/Language Arts Social Studies/History Jack Johnson boxing historic newspapers racist language teaching strategy