The Mann Act became a weapon for racist and blackmail purposes

Evidence

The Mann Act never stamped out “white slavery,” but it accumulated an interesting stable of victims, including Jack Johnson, the first African-​American to win the heavyweight championship. His real crime, no doubt, was winning fights against white men and, even worse, his relationships with white women. The Mann Act was, at times, an open door to blackmail; a “ring” of blackmailers in Chicago, in 1916, did a business blackmailing businessmen who visited Chicago and indulged in sex. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4272

Categorization

• XREF: Federal morals law as a discretionary weapon — connects to how vice laws are selectively enforced against racial out-groups, echoing the Jim Crow and anti-Chinese selective-enforcement threads. — connects to: Changing sexual morality did not repeal the Mann Act until 1986 — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1205; The Court eagerly broadened the Mann Act beyond its white-slavery purpose — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4272; Racial humiliation is recast as fiscal and security threat language. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1758 (+1 more)
• CANDY: That the heavyweight champion’s real crime was beating white men and dating white women is a striking, shareable detail about the Mann Act.

Broader Connections

• The Court eagerly broadened the Mann Act beyond its white-slavery purpose #expands (0.92) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4272
• Racial humiliation is recast as fiscal and security threat language. #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1758
• Racism persists covertly after formal prohibitions end #exemplifies (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1506