Now I Have A Dream

I read an article earlier this week about golf super-phenom Tiger Woods. With it being Masters Week, the article was timely and appropriate as it focused on the perennial favorite to be wearing the green jacket come Sunday afternoon. I have no argument against Woods’ place as today’s best golfer, and perhaps as even the best of all time. He has earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

What I do have a problem with is the obvious obsession the media has with his skin color. What this particular article focused on was exactly that: Tiger Woods’ skin color and why there has not been a dramatic increase of young black (or minority) golfers since his emergence in the golf world. The writer was apparently appalled that, although the best golfer in the world is “black”, there has been no sudden influx of new young black golfers (I use quotation marks here because Woods himself has never claimed to be black; on the contrary the word he has actually used is ‘conglomerate’ as both of his parents were either bi-racial or multi-racial).

What a tragedy.

I saw a white guy play cornerback for the New York Giants a few years ago and I am saddened to report that there has not been a sudden influx of new white defensive backs in the NFL. While I’m at it, Dat Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, started at middle linebacker for the Cowboys a while back. With the exception of Hines Ward (who is – gasp – bi-racial) and Nguyen, there haven't been many Asians popping up on NFL rosters lately. I’m not exactly a hockey expert, but I have also noticed a lack of black, Asian or Hispanic players on NHL rosters. And, frankly, I think we need to start a committee because obviously the NFL, the NHL and the PGA Tour are all desperately in need of diversity training.

All sarcasm aside, this has gotten a bit ridiculous. It is Masters Week, one of the most sacred golf weeks of the entire year. The eyes of the golfing world are focused on Augusta, Georgia this weekend. The event itself is dripping with history and tradition – some good and some bad. There is more than a tinge of racism amongst the fairways of Augusta National, but you won’t hear anyone there argue that Tiger Woods isn’t a great golfer in his own right. And you certainly will be hard-pressed to find anyone there who will focus as much on the race issue as the derelict who wrote that article did.

When and why did everything become a race issue? Why do we have to throw some Presidential-sized gala when a black coach wins the Super Bowl or a Hispanic kid shoots even par on a putt-putt course?
After all, aren’t we all just people? Do our actions and accomplishments have to be defined based solely on or in light of our skin color or our heritage?
I know from past interviews I’ve seen that Tiger Woods certainly does not want to be labeled based on the pigment of his skin. So please accommodate his request.

Sure, there’s racism out there. I am not arguing that racism isn’t a real problem in America and in the rest of the world. What I am arguing is that this fixation, this utter obsession with pointing out every athlete’s accomplishments as it relates to their race or ethnicity is absurd. It does more harm than good.

The state of Alabama and the university that bears its name does not have a long history of racial harmony. But the football team had a coach a few years back that you may have heard of.
Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was responsible for racially integrating a team that even before it included some of the nation’s best black players was a football powerhouse, consistently contending not only for SEC crowns, but national championships as well. After a few years had gone by and the Crimson Tide had at least as many black players as white players, Coach Bryant was asked by some brainless reporter (maybe the same one that wrote that article on Woods), “How many black players do you have on your team?” Bryant’s answer was as honest as it was poignant, “I don’t have black players. I don’t have white players. I just have players.” A guy never really known for his wit, Bryant answered the question in such a way that makes me wish he was still around to leave reporters like this joker speechless.

Several years later, another coach you may have heard of was on a stage, lofting a silver trophy which signified that he had reached the pinnacle of his profession and was literally on top of the world.
Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts had just won the Super Bowl. It was during this moment of celebration and triumph that some moron with a microphone jumped in and asked another in a long line of dumb questions. “Coach Dungy, how does it feel to be the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl?”
Before I share Coach Dungy’s answer, let me tell you about what had gone on in his life during the previous year before that Super Bowl. In December of 2005, Dungy’s eighteen-year old son committed suicide. It was a loss that affected the entire Colt organization, not to mention the whole Dungy family. It certainly caused the coach to put things in their proper perspective, and it is also probably what triggered the following response to an otherwise asinine question. “Well, I am proud to be the first black coach to do that. But what I’m more proud of is that two Christian coaches were out here today proving that you can do things the Lord’s way and still be successful.” I would say the man definitely learned how to put things in perspective.

In the end, that’s all I am really asking of the media. Follow the lead of guys like Bryant and Dungy and put things in their proper perspective. There is no need to focus – ad nauseam – on issues like the lack of young, up-and-coming minority golfers. Focus instead on Tiger Woods the athlete – not the black athlete – and what amazing things he has accomplished as a golfer. If what I said earlier does not confirm the utter stupidity of some in the media and their obsession with this race issue, let me offer up another anecdote.

Back in January of 1988, in the week leading up to Super Bowl XXII, Doug Williams was about to become the first black quarterback to play in the NFL’s Championship Game. During a press conference, a reporter sincerely asked the following question of the man who would later lead the Washington Redskins to an improbable blowout of the heavily favored Denver Broncos: “Mr. Williams, how long have you been a black quarterback?”

That solidifies it for me. Please, can’t they all just be athletes instead of black or white or pink or blue athletes or whatever other color they may be? Can we please just focus on the individual and their accomplishments and not their skin color? After all, in agreement with Tony Dungy, that’s the Lord’s way of doing it.