by Mark Silva
Rep. Lynn Jenkins probably never heard of Jack Johnson.
But the freshman Republican congresswoman from Kansas says she is sorry now about suggesting that the Republican Party, like those who wanted to dethrone Johnson from the heavyweight boxing ring, really needs "a great white hope.''
"Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope," Jenkins said last week at a gathering in her district. "I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington."
Word got around after someone in the audience recorded video of the event in Hiawatha, about 65 miles northeast of Topeka, and gave it to the Kansas Democratic Party.
"She apologizes if her words have offended anyone," Jenkins spokeswoman Mary Geiger told The Associated Press today. "That was not the intent in any way, shape or form."
At an event at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Jenkins denied that she had been speaking in racial terms about the challenge that the party faces with President Barack Obama, the first African-American president, when she evoked the title of a play about opposition toward Jack Johnson, the first African-American to win the heavyweight championship in boxing.
She said she only meant that the GOP needs "a bright light."
"I was unaware of any negative connotation, and if I offended anybody, obviously, I apologize," Jenkins told the Lawrence Journal-World.
Jenkins is white, as are three House colleagues whom she mentioned at that gathering as potential future party leaders: Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia; Kevin McCarthy of California and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Jenkins delivered her party's weekly address back in May. "The pace that Democrats in Congress and the White House are spending your tax dollars is simply staggering,'' Jenkins said then -- no mention of boxing.
The Great White Hope, a play written in 1967 and adapted for the silver screen in 1970, featured James Earl Jones in the lead role on Broadway. He won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a tale based on the story of the black boxing champion, Jack Johnson, which chronicles the racial prejudice that led to the pursuit of a "great white hope'' to defeat him.
Johnson defeated Canadian Tommy Burns on Dec. 26, 1908, in the World Boxing Championship held in Sydney, Australia. This initiated the quest for a "Great White Hope" to defeat Johnson. James Jeffries, a white fighter, came out of retirement to challenge the champ. Johnson won their fight on July 4, 1910.
Johnson held the title until April 5, 1915, knocked out by Jess Willard in the 26th round during in Havana, Cuba. (Willard's nickname was the Pottawatomie Giant - he was from Pottawatomie County, Kansas - Jenkins' home state. He was white.)
Barack Obama was elected president on Nov. 4, 2008. He faces reelection in '12.
He beat a white man, Sen. John McCain, whose running mate, Sarah Palin, still is considered by many in her party as one of "the bright lights'' of the Republican Party. She is, uh... retired. But she could always come out, like James Jeffries did.
(File photo above of boxing champion Jack Johnson. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) is pictured speaking with voters in northeast Kansas, photo by Orlin Wagner / AP)
This was Rep. Jenkins' weekly Internet address:
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