Great white hope

[fredpuli47]

What's the origin of '(the) great white hope', meaning someone upon whom all hope of success rests or something thought to be a forlorn hope? It's usually used sarcastically, when the speaker thinks the chances of success are poor but greatly overrated or excessively promoted. Tim Henman, for example, was the 'great white hope' of British tennis.

[dundurn]

Coined in the US when the Jack Johnson became the first black world heavyweight champion Certain sections of the public and press thought that the sight of a black man beating a white man was somehow shameful. Each new white challenger was seen as "the great white hope".