On Christmas day in San Francisco, three young men were mauled by a tiger after repeatedly taunting it, killing one of the men and injuring the others. Just a few weeks later in Hawaii, there was another case of tiger taunting, but this one of a different sort.
On January 11, while discussing the dominance of Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour, Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman made the comment that the other young players on the Tour should “lynch him in a back alley” in order to have any chance of rising to the top themselves. As can be imagined, almost everyone was outraged over the remarks, including many African Americans. But the list of those crying foul was missing one important name—Tiger Woods.
In an almost unheard of move in this world of political correctness, Tiger took the high road. Instead of lashing out at Tilghman, a friend of his for the past 12 years, Tiger forgave her. Publicly and through released statements, Tiger called the story a “non-issue.” He said, “I talked to Kelly. We discussed it for a little bit. She felt extremely bad about what happened. As I said earlier, she’s been a great friend over the years, and everyone makes mistakes, and she certainly regrets what she said and what happened.”
End of story, right? Wrong.
Apparently, Tiger did not get angry enough. Many commentators have suggested that Woods should have done more, and have called into question his tendency to keep quiet about social justice issues—especially those regarding African Americans.
The most ridiculous comment came from former NFL quarterback, Shaun King. Talking about the issue on ESPN’s program, “First and Ten,” King commented that, while he recognizes Woods is as much Asian as he is African American (Woods’s mother is Asian while his father is part African American, making Woods himself only 25% African American), Woods should have been more outraged by Tilghman’s comments because, after all, Wood’s skin color is black.
How does Woods feel about such scrutiny? “I know there are people who want me to be a champion of all causes,” he said, “and I just can’t do that.”
The truth is Tiger already does a lot. His foundation, started in 1996, has helped over 10 million kids—Black, White, Asian, and Latino—through numerous community development programs. But that isn’t good enough for many.
It makes me wonder, when did being Black, as King put it, restrict one from taking the high road? When did being Black come with a requirement to be a champion of every type of racial social justice issue? Why can’t Tiger just be a great golfer?
Ironically, while this situation unfolded, the only lynching Woods received was from the Black community.
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