Tiger is More Brand, Than Man
by Mel Reeves
"We want Tiger to stand up and stop acting like he was puttogether by Buick, with Buick parts."
A recent headline read, "Tiger stays neutral on GolfChannel, Golf Week controversy." I want to call Tiger Woods a coward, but that would beinaccurate. A more accurate description would be that he is a narrow, cold,calculating businessman who, according to Fortune magazine, made $100million in 2007 in endorsements alone.
Most are already familiar with the Golf Channel's KellyTelighman joke about the only way to stop Tiger Woods is to, "lynch him in aback alley" and the subsequent decision by Golf Week to run a picture of anoose on its front cover to bring attention to the inside article aboutTelighmans' gaffe. And most people know that Tiger just shrugged it off saying,"it was unfortunate."
No, Tiger: what's unfortunate, is that you passed on achance to set the record straight. Like it or not, he could have brought someunderstanding to the controversy. What most folks wanted from Tiger - or atleast what I wanted - was for him to say, "Listen, any reference to lynching ornooses is offensive to my people, it's a reminder of times when my people werevictimized for no other reason than being black." What we wanted him to do ispoint out that his friend's slip of the tongue would be as wrong as joking thatJewish golfer Corey Pavin be gassed, or that a female golfer be raped, or thatthe Japanese golfer Isao Aoki be jap-slapped, or interned, or nuked. We wanted Tigerto say it wasn't funny and it minimizes something that was indeed very tragic
To our grave disappointment, that didn't happen andlikely will never happen, despite our hopes and dreams. And even despiteefforts by white writers to shame him. Apparently, Tiger can't be shamed.
"Tiger's friend's slip of the tongue was as wrong asjoking that Jewish golfer Corey Pavin be gassed."
Ironically, young Mr. Woods keeps trying to run away fromrace, but it has old Tiger by the tail. He keeps telling folks that he is amember of the "human race." But everybody in America sees him as a black man.
When Tiger first appeared on the scene - because he was arecord setting black man - he told Oprah Winfrey in 1997 that he was"Cablinasian." According to Tiger this was a combination of Caucasian, black,Indian and Asian. He was rebuffed at the time by former US Secretary of DefenseColin Powell, who is light skinned as well. "In America, when you look like me,you're black," Powell explained.
After Tiger's history making win at the 1997 Masters FuzzyZoeller said, "tell that ‘little boy' not to serve fried chicken and collardgreens next year...or whatever the hell it is ‘they' serve." To our collectivechagrin, good old Tiger just took it on the chin and grinned.
In 2002, when the NAACP asked him to boycott the MCIHeritage Classic in South Carolina, in support of the boycott of the statebecause of its refusal to remove the Confederate battle flag over the StateCapitol, Tiger had a very telling response. In fact, Tiger never directlyresponded to the NAACP request, but gave an answer in Sports Illustrated.In the April 3 edition of that year Tiger explained his position: "I'm agolfer. That's their deal, notmine."
"Except when he's getting paid tons of cash by the second,Tiger remains silent."
Funny thing though, when money was involved he was black.Early in Tiger's career, in 1996, he recorded Nike commercials - earning $40million as brand spokesperson - in which he didn't shy away from his blackness.Tiger looked into the camera with his black self and said, "There are stillcourses in the United States that I am not allowed to play because of the colorof my skin."
However, except when he's getting paid tons of cash by thesecond, Tiger remains silent - which I suppose is good business savvy. He isthe quintessential self-marketer, an excellent PR man, a businessperson parexcellence. He knows, like his best friend Michael Jordan, that General Motors, Nike, Rolex, AmericanExpress, Apple and Gatorade aren't likely to continue to paying the big bucksto a black man with an opinion. Living in $54 million dollar mansion, owningyour own yacht and private plane - all this comes at a cost. Tiger has showthat he's more than willing to pay.
Someone once said of Tiger that, "he keeps his mouth shutand his bank account open."
And make no mistake, Tiger is not neutral. His silence sayshe has taken a side. He sides with those who say, "Race is no big deal so let'sjust get past it." And no, Tiger is certainly not neutral when it comes tosiding with big business. Heknows controversy is bad for business.
However, despite his best efforts to distance himself fromblack people, "he [Tiger] has become a role model for many African Americans,who see him as one of them even as Woods tries to distance himself from thetrouble world many blacks cannot escape," writes noted journalist DeWayneWickman.
But wait, you say: Tiger is a good guy, he does lots ofcharity work for the kids with his golf clinics and his Tiger Woods LearningCenter. But charity work is simply good public relations. It's why all majorcorporations have a charitable foundation. The real design is to make it appearthat they are something they are not.
"Tiger is certainly not neutral when it comes to sidingwith big business."
Someone tried to compare Woods to Jackie Robinson. Wrong!Robinson took stands. He spoke out for others, often in situations in which hewasn't going to personally benefit. After retiring from baseball, he tookcompanies to task for failure to hire black workers and actively participatedin the Civil Rights movement. He even boycotted Dodger old-timer games becauseof the lack of black front office personnel in baseball.
Robinson had a sense of what was really important in life.He was once quoted as saying, "If I had a choice between being in the[baseball] Hall of Fame and first class citizenship, I would choose first classcitizenship for all my people."
Muhammad Ali is revered because he stood up for black folkand even for the embattled Vietnamese against whom this country was waging anillegal and murderous war. Football great Jim Brown, though widely discreditedbecause of his mistreatment of women, was right nevertheless, when he saidWoods should have spoken out. In his day, Brown could be counted on to take astand.
So what do we want from Tiger? We want him to stand up andstop acting like he was put together by Buick, with Buick parts, and stopacting like being black and a minority in this country has nothing to do withhim. We want him just once to look out for the other guy, because while he isonly obligated to represent himself - and whoever is paying the big bucks -history smiles on those who reach out as well to help their fellow man.
Mel Reeves is an activist living in Miami. Hecan be contacted at [email protected].
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