Race still an issue?
Alan Trexler
Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Sports
Since we have the customary bye week before the biggest day of the year, I will hold my Super Bowl banter for next week's issue.
This week I would like to address the issue currently that currently dominates the world of golf. Yes, I said golf.
Before you skip the rest of this article based solely on the fact that I said the "G" word -- hear me out. The issue at bar here is bigger than sports. It just so happens that golf is the latest sports medium to be affected.
A few weeks ago Kelly Tilghman, an anchor on the golf channel, was asking Nick Faldo who could emerge as a serious threat to Tiger Woods. Faldo jokingly suggested that maybe some of other golfers should gang up on Woods.
Tilghman responded by jokingly saying they should "lynch him in a back alley." Oops.
Poor choice of words? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Racist? No.
The fallout has been a whirlwind of racism allegations and the customary call for her termination by Rev. Al Sharpton. While the Golf Channel did not choose to fire her, they did suspend her for two weeks without pay.
Call it an idiot tax. Hopefully she spends the next two weeks thinking about the fact that just because she is in a white-dominated sport does not mean the all-hearing ear of the controversy hungry media is not listening.
But try to look at this issue objectively. This is a young, uncultured, white woman who had no negative intentions with her comments.
Sharpton wants us to believe this is the same thing as Don Imus referring to Rutgers women's basketball team as nappy headed ho's. Is he serious?
Imus is an old, prejudiced bigot. Tilghman is a young, uncontroversial golf analyst who had a momentary lack of judgment. One she probably did not even realize she had until someone told her.
This is only an issue because we make it an issue. I realize that as a Caucasian I may not fully understand how her comments affected African Americans. Like Stan Marsh said on South Park, "I get it…I don't get it."
This week I would like to address the issue currently that currently dominates the world of golf. Yes, I said golf.
Before you skip the rest of this article based solely on the fact that I said the "G" word -- hear me out. The issue at bar here is bigger than sports. It just so happens that golf is the latest sports medium to be affected.
A few weeks ago Kelly Tilghman, an anchor on the golf channel, was asking Nick Faldo who could emerge as a serious threat to Tiger Woods. Faldo jokingly suggested that maybe some of other golfers should gang up on Woods.
Tilghman responded by jokingly saying they should "lynch him in a back alley." Oops.
Poor choice of words? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Racist? No.
The fallout has been a whirlwind of racism allegations and the customary call for her termination by Rev. Al Sharpton. While the Golf Channel did not choose to fire her, they did suspend her for two weeks without pay.
Call it an idiot tax. Hopefully she spends the next two weeks thinking about the fact that just because she is in a white-dominated sport does not mean the all-hearing ear of the controversy hungry media is not listening.
But try to look at this issue objectively. This is a young, uncultured, white woman who had no negative intentions with her comments.
Sharpton wants us to believe this is the same thing as Don Imus referring to Rutgers women's basketball team as nappy headed ho's. Is he serious?
Imus is an old, prejudiced bigot. Tilghman is a young, uncontroversial golf analyst who had a momentary lack of judgment. One she probably did not even realize she had until someone told her.
This is only an issue because we make it an issue. I realize that as a Caucasian I may not fully understand how her comments affected African Americans. Like Stan Marsh said on South Park, "I get it…I don't get it."
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