Houston, We Have a Problem: Kelly Tilghman, Golfweek and More
January 23, 2008
Get’chya popcorn ready….
When did this begin, January 6? The day is about to turn to a new one, which makes, “soon,” January 23. And after 17 days nothing is remotely close to resolved, close to being understood, close to being divulged about the Kelly Tilghman incident.
Many people considered the image of a noose - on the cover of Golfweek magazine - far “worse” an offense than Tilghman’s horrific boiler room joke about how young PGA golfers can deal with Tiger Woods:
“Lynch him in a back alley.”
Other people pooh-poohed the noose as a flaccid attempt at sensationalism and concentrated their attentions mainly on Tilghman’s words.
Both are off base.
The Golfweek cover means there is no such idea that the sensibilities and sensitivities of other cultures in America mean a damn to the people who have wriggled themselves into “dominance” in our society. All the Anglo-trash who arrived in this country in the Mayflower batch of would-be conqueror caucasians who set up house for the rest of their ilk are to blame for this melting hell of a malting pot we live in today. All the colonial imperialists who boated over bent on furthering the idea of European “Manifest Destiny” and set up shop in the cities of the north and laid claim to Native American’s land in the south by trying their best to exterminate them, eradicate them like unwanted vermin attacking their crops are to blame for this crap we live with today. All the well-heeled bankers who brought their want for world domination, who owned the presidents and made sure they sent out troops toward the left coast to pave the way for the “go west young man” ideology that ensured that America stretched from sea to stinking sea are to blame for the capitalist, social-corporatist ways we adhere to today. Finally, all the immigrants who at one time suffered for a time like black slaves after their arrival at Ellis Island, who got so pissed off they formed gangs and plotted and succeeded with ruthless take-overs of the streets - and then the city halls, and then nestled in comfortably and reveled in what they stole and killed for, and reveled in the fact that what separated them from those slaves was the color of their skin, are to blame for putting the last nails in the coffins of all the people to whom this land truly belongs - and all the black people brought here to act as thinking farm animals for the whites before them.
And today, every, single white person who takes advantage of that system without paying homage to the Native Americans from whom your people stole the land, without paying homage to all the black thinking farm animals who allowed you to eat fine foods and clothe yourselves in cotton, are to blame for Golfweek’s cover.
And all of you made Kelly Tilghman.
So, a cover with a noose without Kelly Tilghman’s head in it means nothing ————— but pain for everyone who cannot identify themselves with her image as an Ameri-kan.
The act is, in fact, so painful that too many black sports journalists would not commit a word until Michael Wilbon spoke and wrote extensively on the topic of Tilghman. They waited because they knew and know he, to a degree, knows Tiger Woods, the immediate butt of Tilghman’s utterance.
Wilbon came out and told us that Tilghman’s joke was in poor taste; yes he did. But he has spent an inordinate amount of time and energy spinning the story to let the world know what a fine person Tilghman is; how she is a friend of his and a friend of his friend, Charles Barkley. More of his words are spent telling us that Tilghman’s crime was a “split-second gaffe,” instead of the truth, which is that here words were from her heart of hearts.
This acclaimed sports writer continues to remind us that there is “context” to her statement that we, outsiders, do not and cannot understand, so the master explains:
But there’s context to everything, beginning with the fact that Tilghman has not at any other time we’re aware of uttered anything even remotely similar. Nothing in her television work hints at anything mean-spirited or bigoted, which is also the reason Tiger Woods has said it’s a non-issue to him.
That passage, if it was not so sad, would be laughable. Michael Wilbon is attempting to tell us that we should excuse Kelly Tilghman because she has never used the word “lynch” or any word like it that would trigger a negative emotional response relative to black people. Well, actually Wilbon is saying she has never said anything like that around Barkley or himself. And I bet she hasn’t said it around Tiger Woods, either.
Here’s the rub: do you really, really believe that Kelly Tilghman, South Carolina debutante type, Duke University graduate is going to hang out with Michael Wilbon, Charles Barkley, or tiger woods and talk about lynching someone?
Do you? DO YOU? Would she expose herself as an absolute and unabashed racist in front of any of those black men? Additionally, Wilbon uses this flimsy argument - or fact, if you wish - to say that she has no record of being “mean-spirited “or “bigoted” on air.
And that is context? Are you serious?! Or as John McEnroe would say, “You can NOT be serious!”
No critical thinker would accept these words from Wilbon. Not for a second. Not a little bit. There is not a scintilla of evidence that Tilghman is anything but a privileged white woman who could care less what any person who finds her words offensive, thinks or feels.
Unfortunately, Wilbon can’t seem to leave bad enough alone. He next decided to juxtapose Kelly Tilghman with Don Imus. And make Imus worse than Tilghman. He hopes to sway opinion by calling Imus a “serial offender when it comes to race and gender.” Imus’ “nappy-headed ho” statement made in reference to women of the Rutgers basketball team, according to Wilbon, was “meant to insult.”
Wilbon does not tell us he knows Imus, so it can be inferred that, other than in passing, or as two people at the same event, that Imus is not even an associate if Wilbon’s. But he would have us believe that he knows that Imus’ goal was to insult the young women at Rutgers.
Imus laughed with his producer, Bernard McGuirk, after he called the women nappy-headed hos. He, as was Tilghman, attempting humor. McGuirk, who has been with Imus for quite some time, laughed as well and the men continued their bantering about the Rutgers women. His on-air conversation sounded much more like a private, in-home irreverent conversation between two friends, than a contrived, mean-spirited diatribe about black women. And I believe that after 20 years in the radio business, the studio was like home to Imus. However, it in no way excuses the man’s words, or his publicly expressing his racially and sexually offensive feelings about the Rutgers women; he deserved his firing.
But for Wilbon to equate “nappy-headed hos” with “lynch”? Now that’s a stretch that no right-minded person need to invest their time in considering. Don’t believe it? Let’s put it to the test: nappy-headed hos - women with tightly-curled hair, presumably black, who are prostitutes. Okay, not a nice image. Now, lynch - to hang someone, presumably black, from a rope, killing them.
You tell me which conjures the more reprehensible imagery.
But for Wilbon, and for many black sportswriters who wrote of Tilghman afterward, Imus’ remarks were the more heinous. Fortunately some writers, like ESPN’s Jemele Hill, were able to understand and correctly contextualize the two statements:
Tilghman’s comments were more serious than Don Imus’, but she is not the habitual offender he was. That must be taken into consideration, since Tilghman seems on the verge of following in the footsteps of Fuzzy Zoeller, Jimmy The Greek, Steve Lyons and Al Campanis.
Many bloggers, most notably from the so-called, “closest to mainstream writers as bloggers” at AOL Fanhouse have acted as apologists for Tilghman and Golfweek (and you do the legwork, I already have, and am uncomfortable linking to them and providing these people with unnecessary hits to their three-to-five paragraph blurbs that are passed off as commentary or journalism). They are the yes, what she said is mean, but it was an accident - so leave it and her alone, types.
But they are not Michael Wilbon. They do not appear on television or write for a nationally-renowned daily newspaper. But it is Wilbon who sinks to cronyism by injecting Barkley into the fray and cementing the notion of their “friendship” with Tilghman. It is Wilbon who uses his considerable weight as a journalist to denounce the Internet and at the same time laud what can only be termed as a white man’s observance, “Black” History Month:
We don’t study these atrocities anymore or the shame they produced. This new ignorance is a cultural issue as much as a racial one. If it can’t be found on YouTube it’s not going to be consumed. Sadly, it’s why we need the upcoming Black History Month, so even black children and teenagers can learn about somebody black who didn’t dribble, tackle or rap, and what happened to, and with, African Americans for 400 years.
Yet, on You Tube, you can find this about lynching, or this, or, this, or this. And that was performed in a few seconds glance at the video website.
And we, as a country do not need Black History Month, we need black history to be made a part of all American history classes in out education systems. We need Black History to have a more prominent place in everyday America, then there is no need for a special month to observe the fact that black people exist in this country.
We need Black History Month like we need another hole in the head.
But.
Then Wilbon writes like this:
Kelly Tilghman knows the sting of discrimination because not all the men in the golf world welcomed her with open arms last year when she became the first woman to be the lead announcer for PGA Tour events. Even though she grew up in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and graduated from Duke, I wonder what, if anything, she knew about the history of lynching in America before last week. Partly, I wonder because she said, “lynch him in a back alley.” And anybody who knows anything about lynching also knows black men weren’t strung up in alleys, or anywhere urban enough to have alleys.
Perhaps it is he who needs a month to come to grips with the fact that his taking her statement literally is yet another fatal flaw in his logic - not to mention the fallacy “black men weren’t strung up in alleys, or anywhere urban enough to have alleys.” While true that most lynchings occurred in rural areas, to make a blanket statement of this sort is wrong. But since Wilbon felt the need to reiterate that statement, perhaps he should tell that to Will Brown (photo, top of this article), who was lynched in Omaha, Nebraska in 1919. Tell that to Walter Cotton and a man named Welton who were lynched in Richmond, Virginia in 1900.
Ignorance is used as an excuse for Tilghman - what of journalists who do the same? But if she is ignorant she must also have missed the “sting of discrimination” Wilbon spoke of pertaining to her job. There is another way to look at Tilghman and her relationship with “breaking the glass ceiling” of golf broadcasting:
Kelly Tilghman offered only a meek apology to those who “might have been offended” - implying that there are plenty people who share her sense that lynching a black man - “wink wink” - is but the punch line of a 2008-styled “black humor” joke. She forced her bosses hand and they laid down a two-week unpaid vacation.
The irony of this affair is that Kelly Tilghman’s professional accomplishments are similar to those of many, many black men and women past, present, and surely in the future.
A little more than a year ago at the Golf Channel, Kelly Tilghman broke through the proverbial “glass ceiling” of televised golf to become the first female play-by-play commentator on PGA Tour tournament telecasts.
But, unlike her black counterparts in this respect, Kelly Tilghman failed to understand that, while being “the first” might make her a golden child, she was and is beholden to the men who allowed her to advance in the first place. She had no idea that the privilege of her upbringing held no currency in the face of her corporate money masters; that she could be shackled and removed from her lofty insider view at a moment’s notice.
And where is Tilghman since she threw the match on the dry forest underbrush and then made her weak apology? Quiet as a church mouse and ready to take her position Thursday for the Golf Channel at the 18th green of the Buick Invitational next to Nick Faldo….
What is maddening about all this, to me at least, is that this is not the Wilbon, or the black sports press, or the sports press I grew up reading. I remember The National daily sports newspaper, with its wonderful and insightful reporting. I remember a young Michael Wilbon and his cohorts at the Washington Post, Tony Kornheiser and Christine Brennan who spoke truth to power at every turn. I remember being turned onto a writer at the Oakland Tribune named Ralph Wiley, and another writer named Scoop Jackson.
With these people there was hope that there was room in our society for dissenting voices and constructive dissonance in the world of journalism. Now though, it feels like the energy has been sapped from everyone. It is as if the influence of money and position, and perceived power combined with a country that has lost its direction has blunted even the most powerful forces in America - then again, perhaps people just got tired.
Today there is a new crop of writers, full of snark but like our country, morally bankrupt. To them, becoming a “personality” is not the reward for years of brilliant work, but a birthright because we are in a time when the most foolish of people can be provided with facetime and a lucrative book deal, if they play their cards correctly.
They truly believe they do no wrong and react venomously when criticized or proven incorrect. And feverishly they seek those like them and run in packs like wolves ———– but like rabid wolves, infected and made sick by a vicious brew of toxic, man-made evacuations causing abnormal environmental stresses. Because these people cling to the status quo as if it was an umbilical cord and see the chink in the armor of the once-vigilant, these times are ever more dangerous than ever. And they treat the new batch of truth-seekers with a paranoia normally reserved for the mad.
So the battle lines are drawn. It is up to the institutions to ask themselves, can we stand to hear the truth in order to advance our stakes, or do we hold onto our secrets and flawed philosophies even if it means total annihilation?
We will know the answer soon enough. There are more Don Imuses, more Kelly Tilghmans, more Barry Bonds, more issues to weigh in on - and they are all just around the corner heading our way.
——————————–
Make sure you carefully read what was written before you let your knee jerk so hard it hits you in the face. Now, if you don’t belong on the negative aisle of the conversation be proud you have evolved beyond the box that is sitting outside your door - the one waiting for you to hop in to make identification of your ideological leanings easy.
But if this is you - for once own it. Be proud of maintaining the status quo. Be proud of the fact that you can openly be so disdainful of other people not like you that you can present them with words and images that bring forth nothing but painful memories and an understanding that those memories live on in actions today. Let it be known that you feel so privileged that you can not only present those words and images but tell the people affected by them that their responses to what it is you present is little more than a jumble of unfounded thoughts and emotions and a vehicle for the more sordid to make money off of you.
Let it be known that you feel so powerful that you can tell us our realities are invalid; that only yours have room for existence in this world.
Let it be known so we can meet eye to eye.
————————
More on Kelly Tilghman, Golfweek, and/or Tiger Woods:
Kelly Tilghman: In Plain View, My Response to Comments, and, Is Tiger Woods a Victim?
Comments
29 Responses to “Houston, We Have a Problem: Kelly Tilghman, Golfweek and More”
Got something to say?
dwil–
Ralph Wiley’s spirit lives through you bruh. Just when i think you’ve wrote your best stuff, you prove me wrong every time. DAMN!!!! I have to make a copy of this one and save it in my personal archives.
I’m glad you are exposing these house knee-grow frauds like Wilbon. I’ve said many times that eversince he “made it” to ‘BSPN’, he has systematically jumped to the “other” side. Some of the crap Wilbon spits is beyond sad. He wants us to believe that just because Tilghman doesn’t use that terminology around him and Barkley means she should be let off the hook? These house knee-grows really crack me up.
No, dwil…..I don’t believe she would expose her true thoughts and actions in the presence of people from a different race or ethnic group. And if Wilbon and Tiger believes that then they are both damn fools.
GrandN-
Thank you so much….
As I wrote, though, I remember Wilbon in his younger days and the truth he too wrote…. and perhaps its age, status, weariness - any, or all three that come into play as time goes by.
It’s like this: there might be a truth to be told at a given moment in time and that shizzz is black and white, but what lies behind it, or what how it becomes constituted made up of - perhaps - every color in the spectrum, and all kinds of shades between…. it’s the same with these topics and Wilbon…. but I do feel you.
Great article dwil! Nothing really surprising about Wilbon, though. It’s been said many times before. You can’t fight the system by joining it. If you join the system, then you’ll be assimilated by it. I think what happens to some people, is that they just get tired of fighting, and then just decide to take the easy way out. Or they let their position/status go to their head. Believe me. Kelly Tilghman just said what alot of other white people at her office are saying/thinking behind Tiger’s back anyway. The Golf Channel would rather for us to not think that, though. I’d ask for people to look at The Wire for this season, where they show the relationship between the press and the opinions formed by people. News is not about the news. It’s about generating a profit. If it means bending to the truth to mean what they want those in power want it to be, so be it.
How many times have any of us as black men and women had to go through the same crap. I get on an elevator, and an old white woman will pull her pocketbook away from me. You get pulled over because you’re in the wrong car and/or in the wrong neighborhood. You’re in your office and you hear that “you’re not like other black people.” What? Because I don’t listen to soldier boy and make a fool of myself to bend over backwards for them. I don’t ever expect for a white person to know what it feels like to be black, because I’m never gonna know what it feels like to be white. What I’d like though, is some honest understanding, that the system is set up so things are harder for us, unless we blindly follow the rules that the powers at the top have set for us. And even as a white person, unless you’re at the top, you’re just a pawn in the game like the rest of us.
The more time passes and the more I read Wilbon, the more I realize that time has been GOOD to Wilbon. So good, in fact that he has softened and hardened at the same time.
His proximity to power, his representation OF power has given him a perspective he didnt have 4 years ago, much less 20 years ago in the days of the National.
I don’t begrudge Wilbon his opinion, because unlike Whitlock, I get the impression that they are genuine and not some Schtick to “give the people what they want”.
That said, I realized after this latest incident, that I cannot look to Wilbon to represent the opinion of my Elders.
MY Elders.
Maybe Michael Wilbon represents the opinion of Tiger Woods’ Elders. Which is fine, they need representation too, I suppose.
But it aint Gospel. Not to me.
Tiger Woods aint offended, Michael Wilbon aint offended because they KNOW her.
I dont KNOW her, and more importantly, She doesnt KNOW me.
You dont flip off the lip like that to people, BLACK people that you don’t know. Yes, Kelly, BLACK people watch Golf, too.
And now, you’re sorry to anyone you MIGHT have offended.
Which is, of course, to say that it was ONLY wrong if someone was so sensitive as to take your joke the wrong way.
Well, excuse me for being sensitive.
Since Tiger knows you I’ll let this pass.
But KNOW this. You would do well to NEVER slip up again.
Unlike some folk, I got bigger fish to fry than to waste energy calling for your head on a platter. So do they, but thats their hustle, and just like Yours, or Wilbon’s, I aint about to knock it.
So yeah, I forgive you, but I aint about to forget.
kos-
Thanks….
The question about the system and “joining” it is the one I asked near the end of the article…. and I do not believe you must sell out if you’re being hired to do what it is you’ve done all the time. The goal is to get in, keep doing what you do and continue to grow…..
Your final statement about white people is very true - but they have the, by default of skin color, ability to feel privileged. They can “act” privileged. The problem with this is, when they suddenly see that things are just about the same for them as they are for everyone else, they flip right the hell out. And that is where all the anger comes from - and all the knee-jerk reactions and all things white are right reactions come from. Instead of stepping back for a second, thinking about what’s happening and helping make things right, they often get more virulent in their hate of people of color….
kos–
Great comments. I agree with everything you’ve stated.
Bernard McGuirk is white.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=bernard+mcguirk
Inky is right. (hope you don’t mind me shortening your name.)
Power, age, and just life have worked to change Wilbon’s view of the world. It is what it is. My view of the world is different than it was 10 years ago, and it will be different 10 years from now. my concerns will be different, my priorities will be different.
I can see how that’s happened for Wilbon. I remember when there was a big stink at the post because it’s basketball writer Michael Lee called Wilbon a jock sniffer for his close relationship with Jordan and the myriad of excuses he made for Mike during his time with the Wizards.
Every man chooses his own path. I believe that in his heart Wilbon, like Cosby and others, thinks he’s doing the right thing. I just happen to vehmently disagree with him, just like I disagreed wtih his comments after Sean Taylor’s death.
Being a black man in America can wear on you, and I think Wilbon is just worn down. He writes and acts that way. Like he’s seen and thought too much and, like Dwill said, is just tired.
JB-
good catch. I do not even know what the hell i was thinking (especially since I have a photo of him in my Image Composer file)….. thanks (that’s why I wish I had an editor).
I’m diggin the rough ultimatum you threw down at the so-called conservatives (whatever that means…) and the latent racists among us. I’ve been waiting to hear from them today regarding this masterpiece you have written. It’s funny how the truth can silence the loudest barking dog…
I can understand being tired but there still is no way to justify Wilbon’s stance. I too have have “melanin-deficient” friends and they ALL know that there are just some remarks or jokes you just can’t make in public because someone they don’t know might hear them. They’ve all been given ample warnings about those types of comments and they know it’s their ass if someone doesn’t think they’re funny, even if I do.
I think MCBias summarized this best by basically saying “Out of one’s heart, the mouth speaks”. That’s why Tilghman’s racist (yes, racist) comments should not be so readily dismissed as a slip of the tongue.
But hey, we’re the ones with the problem, right?
great piece dwil.
kos, you state: “You can’t fight the system by joining it. If you join the system, then you’ll be assimilated by it.”
I think the system must be fought from the inside AND the outside. Didn’t Ralph Wiley fight the system from the inside? The problem is that it takes an extraordinary amount of restraint and wherewithal to resist the riches that await you from straying from the truth. In the end, it is unlikely, but it can be done.
D-Wil: great stuff, as usual. I suppose it explains why Jemele Hill and Rob Parker are the only ones I heard or read saying anything that came close to the sentiments you just expressed.
It never mattered to me whether Woods publicly said whether he was offended by the remark personally (I wish he had been, and that he had said more about it); what seems to have flown over everyone’s head is that it is offensive to an entire group of people brought over against their will and “kept in line” with violent means.
The lack of collective memory is frightening. Wish I could say it was surprising.
[…] In My Dream Sports Publication, D-Wil Writes A Weekly Column: A useful take, complete with historical context, on why the response to Kelly Tilghman’s remarks and the Golfweek cover in the mainstream sports media still lacks any understanding or perspective. [Sports on My Mind] […]
LastP-
AYo, good to hear from you…. it’s only 10:45 out west, so there’s a lot of day left - we’ll see ’bout them haters……
MC’s personalized take on Tilghman is instructive…. it’s about self reflection, which is so important, yet so seldom practiced…..
DWil - I miss the old black reporters too. Guess it’s easy for me to say that they should put themselves on the line to tell the truth when its not my job on the line. But at the very least, do not write articles justifying the unjustifiable. How on earth Wilbon could have written that is beyond me. Add that to his cold response to Taylor’s death and it was pretty clear that one of my favorite journalists is changing his stripes.
Overall, its just a damn shame.
MODI - You are correct. You can resist being taken in by the forces. But ultimately, if you’re the only one saying something different, you’re dismissed as some kind of a maverick. They won’t give you any kind of power. You’ll essentially be just kept around so they can say that they don’t have have everyone walking in lock n step. You’d probably get less columns. But if you can be like Wiley and make them better than the people who are getting more press around you, then you are a better person than most of your colleagues. You do have an important role for those that realize that you can’t believe everything that you read or hear from a reporter. Ever notice that William C. Rhoden isn’t on the Sports Reporters anywhere near as frequently as he used to be? I believe that put him on now every six or seven weeks. I’m pretty sure he used to be there at least once a month, which is still pathetic. They have to have their mainstays of Lupica, Album, and Ryan.
I think that sports and entertainment reaching a point where it is truly mirroring our society. Not even the rich are safe these days from the msm and law enforcement’s assault. There was a time when, if you were an athlete or a celebrity, the msm would give your misdeeds a pass. I’m not saying it was right, but they just wouldn’t come after you. If you got a DUI, the cop would just take you home because you were a hero. If the press found out, they’d write it up so that you had car trouble or something or not at all. Now, there’s no more of that. They’re tired of the rich pampered black athlete. On the other hand, the white athlete is still given those passes. Listen to the guys on ESPN fall over one another to make up excuses for why this guy got a DUI or beat his wife. Then, the story magically dries up after a couple of days.
That’s why I like reading blogs like this one, Cosellout, Stop Mike Lupica, TSF, etc. You actually get different opinions that you won’t find on a MSM site. Particuarly from the points of view of minorities and women. I don’t agree with everything that is said, but at least I can understand where you are coming from. I can also be sure, that there’s no undue influence from some giant multi-national trying to tell us that I shouldn’t like etc, b/c of this or that.
Dwil,
great piece. I gotta say I’m amazed Michael Wilbon ever stood up for any black man. He did everything but crap in Sean Taylor’s coffin. What did Sean Taylor ever do to him?
Not to hijack the thread but the unscrupulous characters at the worldwide leader in hate, have now come out with this:
Dana Jacobson at a Mike and Mike roast
Maybe they should watch the kind of people they are hanging around with, what good could possibly come from a roast where people are drinking alcohol, stupid, stupid, ( My Best ESPN impersonation! HA! )
Fuck ESPN
Fuck Golic
Fuck Greenie
Fuck Jacobson
Holler at your boy!
Dwil, Brilliant stuff.
Its a real shame that what could have been a profound and enduring teachable moment was reduced to a “oh no big deal” blip….let’s face it…as far as GolfWeek, The Golf Channel, the PGA, Tiger, Kelly, Wilbon, etc. are concerned, we’re all screeching drama queens. It really is a crying shame, but this could have been an opening to real dialogue about the culture in the sport, the history (the REAL history) of the sport, this really could have been a lesson about more than “be careful what you say on air” (which is all that its turning out to be)………its a damn shame.
Excellent article…
I must admit, in light of the furor surrounding this issue, I was surprised the Chicago Cubs did this…
I realise the image may not appear offensive to many in North America, but in Asia? Quite so…
I saw the Dana J. thing and the Cubs - I was thinking about saving them for a Friday Spotes Notes - thanks peeps……
And thank you withmalice, imhotep, and johnnyg……..
Once again Dwil you drop the realness.
As far as I am concerned Wilbourn is a c@@n.
Hate that fool is even from my home town.
As dwil have you seen this piece??…….http://www.blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Commentary_1/Just_Kiddin_Eldrick.shtml
O-
Thanks…..
You D.C., too? Where?
BTW, The link doesn’t work…… can you try it again, or send it to me in an email?
Origin,
Did you see who the lowly Falcons picked for Head Coach? They had the courtesy of waiting until 2 days after MLK Day to reveal the choice…..here’s to the Rooney Rule!
Jim Brown weighs in on the lynch remark:
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3212224
Dwil- great article and analysis
Kos - I hear you 100%
Apparently Jim Brown has taken it upon himself to comment on the Tiger situation. He initially began speaking about how Tiger should have come out earlier rather than waiting until it was “politically correct” to speak out. He started off in a good direction but then the interview devolved into pure rhetoric about how we need to educate our young people (Uh, Tiger is over 30 and Kelly Tilghman is 38, they aren’t young, besides Tiger’s response would have been no different if he was 40 years old) and how we have “kids that are suffering from the HIP-HOP culture.” Hip-hop has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. It seems that he’s making the mistake of thinking Tiger as “part of the hip-hop generation” doesn’t know about lynching and is therefore not offended.
Video clip below
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3212224
Dwil,
First off, the list of your feelings/thoughts on the entire topic is very well put together.
Second, while I’ve argued that Kelly’s remark isn’t the absolute worst that anyone could’ve said, and I’ve also argued that if there was any possible derogatory meaning to her using the word “lynch” I would be totally surprised, I can’t help but continue to be embarrassed to see other whites just not get “it”. I don’t mean “it” in a derogatory way, I mean it in the way of using common sense when speaking and knowing what you’re saying and who you’re saying it to. There’s always going to be people that hate others for what they are, or aren’t. That is never going to change, and it’s the reason why this country is “great”.
To see the lengths that GolfWeek went to for attention was absolutely disgusting…
Boney-
Thanks…. but.
She, and other white people need to get “it” from the standpoint that there is no room for that way of thinking. The utterance of words are preceded by thought, even if we cannot comprehend how quickly the process happens.
And - even if there was no derogatory meaning behind her using the word, “lynch,” she has a problem because she used the word.