Last month during a golf tournament, anchor Kelly Tilghman was joking with her co-host that young golfers have no chance of winning because Tiger Woods is just too good.\u00a0 Her co-host said, “To take Tiger on, maybe (the young players) should just gang up for a while.”\u00a0 To which she responded their only chance would be to “lynch him in a back alley.”<\/p>\n
Was this comment racist?\u00a0 Was she referring to the history of lynching black men? Kelly Tilghman and Tiger Woods had a twelve year friendship.\u00a0 Do you think he would remain her friend if she were racist?\u00a0 Mr. Woods said it was a “non issue”. He said he knew “unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments.”\u00a0 Why was this not the end of the discussion?\u00a0 She was joking and he knew she was joking.\u00a0 He knew she was not racist, nor were her comments. Historically, the word “lynching” was used in the South to describe the hanging of black men.\u00a0 It was also used in the West to describe handing outlaws. Lynching in the South was a horrible period in our history and I am not trying to minimize the evil.\u00a0 But, must we remove the word “lynch” from our dictionary and vocabulary?\u00a0 Can we use this word, as Kelly did, without someone interpreting it as racist?<\/p>\n
Although Tiger Woods dismissed these comments, two other men decided this was an issue and Kelly Tilghman’s comments were racist despite what Tiger Woods said. Did Tiger Woods have a better understanding of what is and is not racism than either Rev. Al Sharpton or USA Today reporter, DeWayne Wickham?\u00a0 Why were they offended when Tiger Woods was not?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did these men get involved to help Tiger Woods even though he did not seem to need any help?\u00a0 Or, did they impose themselves, uninvited, into this situation for another agenda, to create a racist issue where none existed?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rev. Sharpton demanded Kelly Tilghman be fired immediately even though he knew Tiger Woods said this was not racism.\u00a0 Isn’t racism far too important an issue to be manipulated in this way?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Racism still exists in our culture.\u00a0 Talking with people in our own community, racism exists here and is more common than I believed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My concern with Rev. Sharpton is that with his constant claiming that the sky is falling, when real racism occurs his voice will fall on deaf ears, too many tiring of his continuing accusations.\u00a0 I know I cannot understand the racism people endured or the racism some still endure today.\u00a0 Even so, I fear when Rev. Sharpton behaves this way he does more harm than good and may hinder, rather than advance, efforts to end racism.<\/p>\n
Sharing the soapbox, DeWayne Wickham, in the USA Today newspaper, claimed racism as well.\u00a0 He said Tiger Woods was wrong to dismiss this issue and it was racist despite what Mr. Woods said.\u00a0 Mr. Wickham proceeded with extraordinary attempts to justify his position.\u00a0 To add credibility to his argument he quoted from a speech given by Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina in which the Senator said the lynching of black men was reasonable.\u00a0 I had difficulty believing what I was reading and then I saw the speech was given in 1900, 108 years ago.\u00a0 Isn’t it a bit of a reach to quote a speech from that long ago to justify a position today?\u00a0 He also made Kelly Tilghman akin to those “white women inciting the lynching of black men.”\u00a0 Are statements like these needed in this situation?\u00a0 Is Mr. Wickham’s goal to end racism or is his goal to manufacture racism where none existed?<\/p>\n
These two men would have us believe that Kelly Tilghman’s remarks were no different from those of Don Imus when he called the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos.”\u00a0 Wasn’t that different?\u00a0 Didn’t Don Imus know precisely what he was saying?\u00a0 Wasn’t that real racism?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was their evaluation of Kelly Tilghman too simplistic; she is a white woman, Tiger Woods is a black man; therefore, the word “lynch” must be racist?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If these men accuse people of racism when none exists are they squandering their credibility? Could they be accused of racism?<\/p>\n
Will we see an end to racism as long as there are Al Sharptons and DeWayne Wickhams going out of their way to create racism and keep it alive?\u00a0 To bring an end to racism don’t we need to be honest about what is and is not racist?\u00a0 We need to learn from yesterday’s racism but it is today’s racism that needs our attention.\u00a0 Don’t we need Rev. Sharpton and Mr. Wickham working to end real racism rather than propagating racism?\u00a0 They have a forum and we need them to use it appropriately.<\/p>\n
Will we see an end to racism as long as there are Al Sharptons and DeWayne Wickhams going out of their way to create racism and keep it alive?\u00a0 To bring an end to racism don’t we need to be honest about what is and is not racist?\u00a0 We need to learn from yesterday’s racism but it is today’s racism that needs our attention.\u00a0 Don’t we need Rev. Sharpton and Mr. Wickham working to end real racism rather than propagating racism?\u00a0 They have a forum and we need them to use it appropriately.<\/p>\n
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